Unfurling flag with pride, passion

Year in, year out

The jobs of the guard of honor are not as difficult as those of soldiers stationed in risky and harsh environments, but their tasks are nonstop over 365 days a year.

In summer, the sun rises as early as 4:45 am, meaning the soldiers have to get up at 3 am to do warm-up drills, while in winter the temperature can drop as low as-20 C.

Whether rain, hail or snow, they have to ensure the flag rises with the sun.

The long hours also mean there is little time to spend with their families. Zhang Zixuan said there was a period when he didn't phone his family for six months.

In 2013, his parents traveled from his hometown in Xingtai, Hebei province, to visit him in Beijing. When they arrived at Tian'anmen Square, he happened to be on duty. His parents greeted him, but Zhang Zixuan had to stand still and show no reaction. He said he felt guilty not being able to say hello to his parents.

Missing his son, Zhang Zixuan's father erected a flag post on the roof of the family home when he returned to Xingtai. He raises the national flag every day, so he can feel the same as his son standing under the ensign.

Although physical trials go with the job of being a guard for the national flag, the task also imbues the soldiers with a profound sense of honor and pride. After years of escorting the ensign, each has developed a deep affection for it and they cherish it as they would their own lives.

In October 2018, when the formation marched out of the Gate of Tian'anmen to lower the standard, flag bearer Yuan Jinshuang spotted a small version of the ensign lying in the middle of the road and bent over to pick it up.

The scene was photographed by many onlookers and garnered a large amount of praise online. Yuan said normally protocol would forbid him from leaving the formation, but when he saw the flag on the ground, the first thought that came to him was "I must not step over it".

"Everyone in our team would have done the same, because the flag is sacred to us," he said.

Zhang Zixuan said every year when a group of guards is demobilized, they are all reluctant to bid farewell to the flag, which has been the center of their lives for two or five years, or even longer.

He will face that moment in two years' time, but he does not want to think about it.

"Our job is to raise and lower the national flag and raise the honor of our motherland high above our heads. It may sound like big talk, but we truly cherish this honor and we regard it as more important than our own lives," he said.

Chu said love for China's flag comes from deep within the soldiers. "Whenever we see the national flag, even when we go to other places and see it rise or hear the national anthem, it feels like an electric shock," he said.