The Chinese Communist Party: A Century in Ten Lives
Timothy Cheek, Klaus Mühlhahn & Hans van de Ven (Eds)
Cambridge University Press: 2021
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On 1 July, the Chinese Communist Party celebrated its 100th anniversary. Though the customary military parade on Tiananmen Square had been scrapped in deference to foreign sensitivities, in every other respect the occasion was marked by the sort of ceremonials that the People’s Republic of China reserves for the most important dates on its political calendar. Festivities ranged from the solemn—speeches at Tiananmen Gate, followed by the mass release of live pigeons and balloons into the Beijing sky—to non-stop cheesy musical numbers on television, to the faintly ridiculous: Nanjing held a free mass wedding ceremony for 100 couples on the day (party membership preferred).

• Tags: China, Hans van de Ven, Issue 24, Klaus Mühlhahn, Timothy Cheek, Yuan Zhu