Teachers and students from Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region sing patriotic songs to express their love for their country amid the approaching 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Photo: news portal news.ts.cn

The regional government of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region is collecting short videos with a patriotic theme that will be selected to be screened on social media platforms, in a bid to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. 

Students, residents and organizations from the region have started recording videos of them singing patriotic songs, dancing and doing morning exercises to show their love for the country on this special occasion. 

"My country and I cannot be separated for even a short while…" are the lyrics to My Motherland and Me, which is a popular song among Chinese public by singer Li Guyi that expresses people's love for the country. It is one of many patriotic songs featured in the short videos.

A resident of Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, surnamed Niu told the Global Times on Wednesday that singing patriotic songs during this special occasion is a good opportunity to express love for the country and enhance Xinjiang people's sense of identity to the Chinese nation and ethnic solidarity. 

"I think this is also an event that encourages people of various ethnic groups in Xinjiang to showcase songs, dances and art performances that local people are good at.. Through short videos, people in other regions can also get to know Xinjiang better, which is stable and prosperous," Niu said. 

A professor from Xinjiang University told the Global Times on condition of anonymity that compared with traditional patriotism-themed works by the government which are usually grand, collecting patriotic videos and songs from the public could create better resonance with the people and nurture their love of the country. 

Since the start of the event in early June, many short videos that detail the changes taking place in Xinjiang over the years will be uploaded to social media sites, according to local news portal news.ts.cn on Tuesday. 

Dozens of elderly scientists and doctors expressed their love for the country by singing My Motherland and Me, Ode to the Motherland and The Fluttering Red Flag. 

A video by the local government of Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture showed horses trotting through vast green grassland, with flowers blooming in a valley, and children listening to the elderly talk about revolutionary history. The video shows how grand the country is and how local residents are enjoying their lives.

Videos being submitted must be no longer than five minutes, contain subtitles and information relating to the location of the video and when it was recorded. The event ends on September 30. 

Many other local government departments, universities, state-owned and private companies across the country are arranging similar activities to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the PRC, which falls on October 1. 




Newspaper headline: Xinjiang collects patriotic short videos