A flag-raising ceremony is held during a grand gathering celebrating the Communist Party of China (CPC) centenary at Tian'anmen Square in Beijing, capital of China, July 1, 2021. (Photo:Xinhua)

Thrilling joy and patriotic love toward the Communist Party of China (CPC) permeates Chinese social media on Thursday as a grand gathering celebrating the CPC centenary was held at Tiananmen Square, mirroring the confidence of the Chinese people over the country’s political path.

The festive day saw a rare 50 trending topics listed on China’s Twitter-like Sina Weibo all related to the CPC centenary at a time, and one of the top hashtags “the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China” on the platform garnered over 1.3 billion views as of press time, a historic amount of views for a trending topic.  

The grand gathering drew swarms of Chinese netizens online to post their blessings, express their patriotic love and commitment to the Party, some newlyweds sought to get registered on Thursday as they wanted to add more “glory” to their big day.

Many others, either young or the elderly, said they could not help applauding and shedding tears over a resonating powerful speech made by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the ceremony as they watched it behind the scenes.

Netizens say the phrase “the Chinese people will never allow any foreign force to bully, oppress, or subjugate us. Anyone who would attempt to do so will find themselves on a collision course with a great wall of steel forged by over 1.4 billion Chinese people” that Xi made at the ceremony triggered a burst of adrenaline. 

The measured steps of Chinese national flag guards as they walked in Tiananmen Square with 100 marching steps drew awe from millions of netizens. “The orderly steps are the best demonstration of our country’s grand and magnificent strength and firm beliefs in the past 100 years,” a netizen commented. 

The grand moment of the CPC has also drawn a peak of marriage registrations as new couples seek to add more “glory” to their big day during this special occasion. The Global Times learned from the marriage registration offices in several cities that the number of couples getting registered Thursday is much more than that of normal weekdays. 

A staffer at the civil affairs bureau in Jinan, East China’s Shandong Province, reached by the Global Times said that “many new couples coming today were wearing a party emblem.” 

Beijing resident Liu Shasha who already finished her marriage registration with her boyfriend Thursday morning said that they chose Thursday out of a good wish – “Hope our love would last 100 years, just like the Party’s centenary.”

Millions of Party members cannot conceal the excitement and proudness of being a CPC member as they swarmed onto social media to share how many years since they had joined the Party and discuss why they chose to join the Party. 

After a century of trials and hardships, the membership of the CPC has grown from just over 50 when it was founded to more than 95 million members. Stories they shared in videos show the Chinese people, especially the younger generation, inheriting their beliefs from their family and truly believe that only the CPC can save China.   

“Please rest assured, the strong country has me!” The commitment to the Party’s cause that representatives of the Chinese Communist Youth League members and Young Pioneers made at the ceremony delivered the confidence for young Chinese people toward the Party, the country and their firm belief toward China’s political path. “The Party is the rising sun, dispersing darkness, bringing light, and illuminating lovely China!” representatives said. 

The applications, Party emblems and work logs that Party members and netizens displayed on their posts vividly interpreted their original aspirations: “Chase the light, become the light, and give out the light."

One day ahead of the centenary celebrations, Xu Zhihe, 28, from Heihe, Northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, delivered his application to join the Party in his 4000-word handwriting.

Born in a city bordering Russia where several ethnic groups live together, Xu, carries the blood of China, South Korea, Georgia and Mongolia, has been taught to know what the CPC is and what the Party’s mission is as his family are all CPC members since he was a child. His determination to join the Party was reinforced after his study in Germany.

“Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the CPC has been stressing the equality of all ethnic groups. The pledge became so evident to me, much more than a slogan, after I found some people in Germany would mock and discriminate against different races. This has never happened in my hometown - people would never attack in the name of culture and language,” Xu told the Global Times. 

“When I went to developed countries in Europe, what I could see was the past glories. People live in laziness and listlessness, in backward transportation infrastructure and under the governance of egoism. I became to understand the standard to evaluate a Party, a political system, is the happiness of its people,” Xu said. 

“Every time when I was asked if I would return to China after graduating, I would say yes as the land has hope, warmth and light,” Xu said.