Tian'anmen Square duty fulfilled by elite unit of PLA

At 5 am on Sept 22, Beijing seemed asleep. The metro system had not yet started operating and the streetlights gave off only a dim glow. However, several people were already entering Tian'anmen Square. They had arrived early to grab the best spots to watch the national flag being raised, considered a must-see ceremony for visitors to the capital.

At 5:58 am, a formation of 66 honor guards set out from the Tian'anmen gate in the Forbidden City. They marched with legs extended when they crossed the Golden Water Bridge, which connects the Forbidden City and Chang'an Avenue. With military precision, each soldier took exactly 96 steps with a stride of 75 centimeters before the formation reached the flag position.

At 6:01 am, as the first rays of light pierced the morning mist, the national flag was unfurled and hoisted while the national anthem played, the pageantry heralding a new day.

The scene happens every day of the year, regardless of rain or snow, heat or cold. Generations of soldiers have vowed to guard the national flag with their lives, and they have overcome demanding physical challenges to make sure the ritual is flawless every morning.

The duty is undertaken by The Guard of Honor of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. It is not easy to become a member of the unit, and joining the elite team that raises the national flag has even stricter requirements.

All soldiers selected in the national flag guard unit have to be between 180 cm and 190 cm tall and meet other physical requirements, including neck length, shoulder width and leg shape.

They then have to undergo months of rigorous training that involves standing, marching and holding a gun. While the skills sound basic, the program is intense.

Chu Zeliang, who has served in the unit since 2012, said to strengthen his back and improve his stamina he used to place two bricks on his head and stand against a wooden support for four to five hours.

"It felt like your neck was about to break," he said.

Another major training drill is learning to march with legs extended in a goose step. To make sure the formation is in perfect unison, each step has to be 75 cm long and 30 cm above the ground. The steps are measured by instructors to ensure they are precise, and the exercise is repeated daily until muscle memory is formed.

"We kick out a set amount of goose steps every day and we have to hit the ground with our soles as hard as possible, because the harder you stomp, the better your feet grip the ground and the better step you make," he said.

Chu said he had lost count of how many goose steps they had practiced. Sometimes they trained with 3-kilogram sandbags tied to each calf. At the start of the training program it was not uncommon for newcomers to suffer leg cramps, ankle pain and swollen knees.

Rifle drills

But for Chu, the hardest part of training was practicing marching and standing still while holding a rifle.

One of the training drills was to hold a rifle with a bayonet attached while standing in a fixed position.

"I needed to fix my hand in position, hold the gun, and press my wrist against it with my hand solidly pinned. The rifle was about 3.5 kg to 4 kg and you had to hold it still for three to four hours. When I ate, my hand became shaky and I couldn't even hold the chopsticks," he said.

They also needed to practice hoisting the rifle over their shoulders vigorously. After each training session their hands and shoulders would be bruised and swollen.

Holding a rifle in a fixed position was eventually removed from the training schedule, but carrying a heavy weapon while goose stepping is difficult enough.

Zhang Yang, 23, who joined the military in September last year, was selected as a member of the national flag guard unit in April.

He said initially he couldn't wait to get his hands on a rifle, but after carrying one against his shoulder for more than two minutes it felt like "torture".

"One night when I went to bed, I eventually fell asleep with my arm held up high because it hurt so much and I couldn't move. Sometimes, I also dared not straighten my legs in case of cramps. When I got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, I had to support myself against the wall," he said.

Extra effort

These challenges are the minimum requirements for a soldier to be considered for the unit that escorts the national flag from the Gate of Tian'anmen.

In 2014, Chu was selected as the "benchmark" soldier of the formation. He stands to the right edge of the first row of the formation and all other soldiers follow his lead.

"It means every single move you make has to be textbook," Chu said.

To improve his steadiness, he practices by marching on sand in order to better control the sway of his body. He has also tried to march in a straight line wearing a blindfold. "I have to make extra efforts. If I can't march well, it will affect the entire formation," he said.

The focus of the formation is the flag bearer, and the position comes with great responsibility. No mistakes are allowed, and the job is considered more physically and mentally demanding than the others.

Zhang Zixuan, 27, joined the military in 2010 and has served as the flag bearer for about eight years.

Training for the position involved carrying a 15-kg flagpole while running 3 to 5 kilometers. To practice keeping the flag steady, he attached sandbags and two water-filled kettles to one end of the pole.

"When you advance toward Tian'anmen Square, the movement of your body and the pole have to be completely in unison," he said. He added that when he first started carrying the pole it would hit his neck and collarbone, but he eventually formed protective calluses on his skin.

During the flag-raising ceremony the flag bearer has to unfurl the 17-square-meter standard into a fan shape in the air, with his arms stretched out and his body straight as a ramrod. The action requires great strength, and Zhang Zixuan practices the move by lifting a 5-kg dumbbell in the air and holding it steady for a few seconds before taking it back to his chest.

Year in, year out

The jobs of the guard of honor are not as difficult as those of soldiers stationed in risky and harsh environments, but their tasks are nonstop over 365 days a year.

In summer, the sun rises as early as 4:45 am, meaning the soldiers have to get up at 3 am to do warm-up drills, while in winter the temperature can drop as low as-20 C.

Whether rain, hail or snow, they have to ensure the flag rises with the sun.

The long hours also mean there is little time to spend with their families. Zhang Zixuan said there was a period when he didn't phone his family for six months.

In 2013, his parents traveled from his hometown in Xingtai, Hebei province, to visit him in Beijing. When they arrived at Tian'anmen Square, he happened to be on duty. His parents greeted him, but Zhang Zixuan had to stand still and show no reaction. He said he felt guilty not being able to say hello to his parents.

Missing his son, Zhang Zixuan's father erected a flag post on the roof of the family home when he returned to Xingtai. He raises the national flag every day, so he can feel the same as his son standing under the ensign.

Although physical trials go with the job of being a guard for the national flag, the task also imbues the soldiers with a profound sense of honor and pride. After years of escorting the ensign, each has developed a deep affection for it and they cherish it as they would their own lives.

In October 2018, when the formation marched out of the Gate of Tian'anmen to lower the standard, flag bearer Yuan Jinshuang spotted a small version of the ensign lying in the middle of the road and bent over to pick it up.

The scene was photographed by many onlookers and garnered a large amount of praise online. Yuan said normally protocol would forbid him from leaving the formation, but when he saw the flag on the ground, the first thought that came to him was "I must not step over it".

"Everyone in our team would have done the same, because the flag is sacred to us," he said.

Zhang Zixuan said every year when a group of guards is demobilized, they are all reluctant to bid farewell to the flag, which has been the center of their lives for two or five years, or even longer.

He will face that moment in two years' time, but he does not want to think about it.

"Our job is to raise and lower the national flag and raise the honor of our motherland high above our heads. It may sound like big talk, but we truly cherish this honor and we regard it as more important than our own lives," he said.

Chu said love for China's flag comes from deep within the soldiers. "Whenever we see the national flag, even when we go to other places and see it rise or hear the national anthem, it feels like an electric shock," he said.

In the crowd

After eight years of escorting the flag, Chu said his only regret was not having witnessed a flag-raising or lowering ceremony as an audience member.

But Zhang Zixuan managed to do so when he returned to Beijing after a visit to his hometown. One scene deeply touched him, he said.

A father standing in front of him carried his son on his shoulders, while the boy's mother supported the child from the back. The family of three was overjoyed watching the formation marching from the Golden Water Bridge to enter the square and lower the flag.

"It felt completely different when you stood among the audience," Zhang Zixuan said. "That kind of atmosphere and enthusiasm are something you can never feel while being in the formation."

After years of raising and lowering the ensign, Zhang Zixuan said he has realized the importance of the national flag as a unifying symbol.

"It represents the dignity and the image of a country. Every day people come here to watch the ceremony," he said.

"The moment we step on the avenue in perfect unison and the moment I unfurl the flag, the perfect display is to let people see and feel from the bottom of their hearts that our army is strong. And only when the army is strong, can the country be strong and peaceful," he said.