BEIJING, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) — While fireworks and festivities drew the largest crowds during this year’s National Day holiday, many Chinese chose to celebrate the occasion with a bowl of patriotic noodles and homegrown films.
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China which was founded on Oct. 1, 1949. The weeklong National Day holiday, introduced in 1999 by the State Council, or China’s cabinet, saw “National Day noodles” become a popular choice among some Chinese this year.
Birthday noodles are to Chinese people what birthday cakes are to Westerners. In accordance with the Chinese custom, people enjoy a bowl of noodles on their birthday as a symbol of longevity. Many restaurants will prepare a bowl of birthday noodles for free if there is a diner celebrating their birthday.
Beijing Huatian Catering Group, a leading catering company in Beijing that has more than 20 time-honored brands, sold more than 25,000 bowls of National Day noodles and gave away more than 120 bowls of birthday noodles, according to a Saturday report by Beijing Daily.
Beijing Honghua Dahaiwan Catering Group said that it has sold 3,800 bowls of noodles during the first three days of the National Day holiday, up 25 percent compared to the same period of last year.
Moviegoers meanwhile got their fill of National Day celebrations in an entirely different manner.
“My People, My Country,” “The Climbers” and “The Captain” were all set for theatrical release on the Chinese mainland on Sept. 30, a day ahead of the weeklong National Day holiday, according to the China Film Distribution and Exhibition Association.
Featuring seven short stories from seven directors, “My People, My Country” draws on important historical moments since the founding of the PRC, aiming to awaken the shared memories of Chinese around the world.
“The Climbers” dramatizes the real-life expedition of Chinese mountaineers to ascend Mount Qomolangma in 1960 and 1975.
“The Captain” is a cinematic portrayal of a real-life event that occurred on May 14, 2018, when a captain of Sichuan Airlines managed a successful emergency landing after the windshield of his plane broke in the air, safely bringing home the 119 passengers and nine crew members on board.
According to the real-time statistics of MaoYan Movie, the leading online movie ticketing platform in China, the three movies ranked as the top three films at the box office over the holiday. “My People, My Country” has raked in more than 2 billion yuan (around 279.8 million U.S. dollars) as of Sunday, “The Captain,” 1.7 billion yuan, and “The Climbers,” 743 million yuan.
Source: Xinhua
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