2012 2

The visitors from the country to witness the flag-raising ceremony in the morning sunrise over Tian'anmen square in Beijing on the new year's day.

And about 10,000 pigeons symbols of peace and auspice were released as the flag with five stars fluttered under the blue sky.

The ceremony-review stand, where one can get a bird's view of the Tian'anmen Square, had been a forbidden area to common visitors, though the entrance to the Forbidden City was opened to tourists in 1988.