From north to south, west to east, Chinese people kicked off the International Labor Day, also the first day of the holiday week, in various ways of entertainment and celebration.

Over 20,000 people from across the country gathered at the Tian'anmen Square early on Saturday morning waiting to see the ceremony of the national flag hoisting.

Yang Huaibao, a 23-year-old migrant worker who has worked in Beijing for four years, came to the square at 4:00 am.

"I have never realized that I am a worker until lately. The city now has recognized our contribution to its development," he said holding a small national flag in the hand.

In east China's Anhui Province, five persons, quarantined due to close contact with the SARS patient surnamed Song, received flowers and fruits from the hospital in Hefei, the provincial capital, as gifts for the Labor Day.

They are in stable condition and will soon be back home if everything goes smoothly, said Jin Yulian, head of the hospital.

Ten new couples held a group wedding ceremony Saturday at a park in Dalian city of northeast China's Liaoning Province.

Together with them, 99 old couples, from cities including Dalian, Tianjin, Shenyang and Shanghai, reviewed their wedding ceremony.

"I had never thought of wearing such a beautiful wedding dress when I was a young bride," said Song Caiqin, a 63-year-old woman who has been married for 43 years, "People have a better and happier life than before."

Yu Xiaoming and her U.S. husband David Moreno mixed their hairs with each other and put them into a bottle and dropped it into the sea like the other nine young couples.

The 27-year-old bride said, "I would like to hold the hand of my husband until both of us grow old."

In Xining, capital of northwest China's Qinghai Province, local residents were welcomed by 4 million plants of colorful tulips Saturday.

A tulip fair opened in Beijing Saturday displaying 4 million plants of some 60 species of tulips in an area of 70,000 square meters and during the six-day fair dancing shows, dramas and trading fair will be staged.

When the Labor Day evening fell in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, a symphony named Ode to Peace debuted at a local concert and moved all the audience.

Chinese musicians from Nanjing, Hong Kong and Taiwan played together the symphony written to mark the Nanjing Massacre that took place some 67 years ago.

"With the symphony, I want to show the strong calling for peace among Chinese people," said Zhao Jiping, its composer. It took him three years and three months to finish the symphony.
 
(Xinhua News Agency May 2, 2004)