With just a month to go until the celebrations for the 60th birthday of the People's Republic of China, the first round of rehearsals were held in Beijing this weekend.

Over 200,000 people gathered at Tian'anmen Square and Chang'an Avenue to participate in the rehearsals. A military parade, a pageant and a night-time gala was held on Saturday night and early Sunday morning.

Police blocked streets in the area and cleared roads of cars and people. Authorities said they have made special arrangements to minimize the rehearsals' influence on people's daily life.

(CCTV August 31, 2009)