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Chinese soldier’s tears at opening strike chord with ‘silent, deep’ love
Wan Hengyi
02:22 Feb 07 2022
Photo: Reuters
A photo of a soldier shedding tears as he watched the national flag being raised at the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games has gone viral online, where many netizens said they felt touched by and related to the soldier's "silent and deep" love for the country.
The photo, taken by Reuters, captured a line of tears on the face of Yan Zhen, a member of the Honor Guard of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), who served as a bearer of China's national flag during the flag-raising ceremony, while he was standing still watching the flag go up.
The 23-year-old soldier is in his fifth year as a member of the PLA Honor Guard. During the opening ceremony, his job was to hoist the national flag within 35 seconds, the People's Daily reported.
To finish the task, Yan practiced the action more than 100 times a day and finally reduced the time from 1 minute and 30 seconds to less than 35 seconds, said the report.
"The overriding emotion I felt as I stood there was immense pride. What we raised was not only a flag but also national dignity and national pride," said Yan in an interview with the Xinhua News Agency.
"Thinking of our great country at that moment, I felt more powerful and so I shed tears," Yan noted.
Han Jie, the captain of the Guard of Honor of the PLA, said that they required themselves to complete the flag-raising task at the opening ceremony, with the standard of "making no mistakes and ensuring a wonderful performance" to show the world the manner of Chinese soldiers.
Yan's photo was widely circulated on Chinese social media. The topic "tears on the face of a flag-bearer at Beijing 2022 opening ceremony" had received more than 46 million views on Sina Weibo as of press time.
Some people said they were amazed by "the power" of the running tears of a soldier who was standing still. "He cannot say anything while on duty, yet his tears said everything about his love for the country," read one comment by a Weibo user.
Many others also commented on the photo with a line from a famous Chinese poem titled I Love This Land - "Why are my eyes always brimming with tears? Because I love this land so deeply."
Netizens said the photo perfectly expressed the feelings of all Chinese while watching the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
"Behind the public's emotional reaction to the photo of the flag bearer is their empathy with him, their love and pride for their motherland," Zhao Jisheng, a professor at the College of Physical Education and Sports of Beijing Normal University, told the Global Times on Sunday.
"The solemnity and piety of all the ordinary Chinese who participated in carrying the national flag showed a rising patriotic spirit, proving once again that the most solid pillar of a powerful China is its people," he said.
Wan Hengyi
02:22 Feb 07 2022
Photo: Reuters
A photo of a soldier shedding tears as he watched the national flag being raised at the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games has gone viral online, where many netizens said they felt touched by and related to the soldier's "silent and deep" love for the country.
The photo, taken by Reuters, captured a line of tears on the face of Yan Zhen, a member of the Honor Guard of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), who served as a bearer of China's national flag during the flag-raising ceremony, while he was standing still watching the flag go up.
The 23-year-old soldier is in his fifth year as a member of the PLA Honor Guard. During the opening ceremony, his job was to hoist the national flag within 35 seconds, the People's Daily reported.
To finish the task, Yan practiced the action more than 100 times a day and finally reduced the time from 1 minute and 30 seconds to less than 35 seconds, said the report.
"The overriding emotion I felt as I stood there was immense pride. What we raised was not only a flag but also national dignity and national pride," said Yan in an interview with the Xinhua News Agency.
"Thinking of our great country at that moment, I felt more powerful and so I shed tears," Yan noted.
Han Jie, the captain of the Guard of Honor of the PLA, said that they required themselves to complete the flag-raising task at the opening ceremony, with the standard of "making no mistakes and ensuring a wonderful performance" to show the world the manner of Chinese soldiers.
Yan's photo was widely circulated on Chinese social media. The topic "tears on the face of a flag-bearer at Beijing 2022 opening ceremony" had received more than 46 million views on Sina Weibo as of press time.
Some people said they were amazed by "the power" of the running tears of a soldier who was standing still. "He cannot say anything while on duty, yet his tears said everything about his love for the country," read one comment by a Weibo user.
Many others also commented on the photo with a line from a famous Chinese poem titled I Love This Land - "Why are my eyes always brimming with tears? Because I love this land so deeply."
Netizens said the photo perfectly expressed the feelings of all Chinese while watching the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
"Behind the public's emotional reaction to the photo of the flag bearer is their empathy with him, their love and pride for their motherland," Zhao Jisheng, a professor at the College of Physical Education and Sports of Beijing Normal University, told the Global Times on Sunday.
"The solemnity and piety of all the ordinary Chinese who participated in carrying the national flag showed a rising patriotic spirit, proving once again that the most solid pillar of a powerful China is its people," he said.
