According to the decision of the CPPCC in 1949 when the People’s Republic of China was founded, military parade should be listed among the key programs of the Grand Celebrations of National Day thereafter. A total number of 11 parades were conducted during the coming ten years since then, which however were followed by a break-up for a consecutive period of 24 years. The parade was not resumed until 1984. Based on Mr. Deng Xiaoping’s proposal, the central government decided to launch a grand parade to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the nation. The latest parade happened in 1999 when the nation celebrated its 50th anniversary. In the Tian’anmen Square, a splendid cross-century parade was staged.

　　Parade is an important form of displaying the strength of armed forces and building up national confidence and pride. In general, the parade includes two parts. One is the military review, in which the reviewer reviews by passing by the troops; the other is the march-past, in which the troops march in front of the reviewing stand to be reviewed.

　　The Parade on the Founding Ceremony of the PRC(1949): marching from east to west, the 16,400-people parading troops were headed by a 2-row navy troop with the infantry division, artillery division, chariot division and cavalry division followed. Seventeen airplanes of the air force, four out of which were carried with bombs, flied over Tian’anmen to receive the review.

　　The Second National Day Parade (1950): Commander-in-chief Zhu De released the order that the PLA should be prepared for war in view of the tension in Korea and Taiwan. On the parade, the cavalry troops reined 1,900 white horses crossing Tian’anmen Square, making up the most spectacular vision of the parade.

　　The Third National Day Parade (1951): the group taking the lead of the troops was made up of experienced and distinguished senior military officers who were receiving training in the war college. For the first time, a group of militias showed up on the parade.

　　The Fourth National Day Parade (1952): the public security troop made its first appearance this year. Militias of different nationalities wore their colorful folk costumes with up-to-date weapons held in hand. In the spotlight was a group of motor infantry formed by a total number of 160 motorcycles.

　　The Fifth National Day Parade (1953): the delegation of Chinese People’s Volunteers made its appearance in the Tian’anmen reviewing stand. For the first time the rocket artillery group was among the parading troops.

　　The Sixth National Day Parade (1954): paratroops were present though no parachuting was performed. This is the last time that the cavalry troop of the PLA was reviewed on the parading ceremony.

　　The Seventh National Day Parade (1955): this is the first parading ceremony since the system of military ranks was implemented among PLA. Dressed in new military uniforms with military ranks and collar badge on them, the officers and soldiers took on an entirely new look.