Story Behind 100,000 Balloons at CPC Centenary Celebration

Story Behind 100,000 Balloons at CPC Centenary Celebration

放飞10万只气球有啥讲究？河南小伙揭秘幕后故事

On the morning of July 1, a ceremony marking the centenary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) was held at Tian'anmen Square in Beijing. With impassioned music, a total of 100 thousand balloons were released into the sky at the grand gathering's conclusion.

7月1日上午，庆祝中国共产党成立100周年大会在北京天安门广场隆重举行。大会临近尾声时，激昂的乐曲响起，10万只彩色气球腾空而起。

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Cui Jianwei from Zhoukou city of Central China's Henan province was very excited at this moment and recorded a video with his mobile phone, which attracted more than 8 million viewers. He unveiled the story behind the balloon team.

老家在河南周口的崔建伟，看着气球“冲破”气球笼腾空而起，内心无比激动，随即拿出手机记录下这一刻，这段视频收获了800多万的播放量。近日，崔建伟向记者讲述了10万只气球顺利升空背后的故事。

 

Story behind 100,000 balloons at CPC centenary celebration. [Photo provided to Henan Business Daily]

Cui, a member of the event's technical instruction team composed of more than 30 technical instructors, was responsible for training balloon volunteers, devising emergency solutions and ensuring the release of the balloons.

崔建伟是庆祝中国共产党成立100周年大会气球放飞技术指导团队成员之一，这个团队的技术指导有30多人，主要负责对气球放飞员进行培训，现场解决突发问题，确保气球能够顺利升空。

 

To meet the requirements of safety and environmental protection, helium was used for inflation and the balloons were made from natural latex that was 100 percent degradable, colorless, odorless and nonflammable. According to Cui, a total of 100 thousand balloons, colored red, yellow, green, orange, dark blue and light blue, were released into the sky for the grand gathering. These balloons were put into 100 boxes with 4 volunteers responsible for each box containing 1-thousand balloons. There were 2 volunteers in each pair, one responsible for inflating the balloons and ensuring an equal size, and the other for tying them. To achieve the desired effect, balloons had to be exactly 25 centimeters in diameter. Besides, the balloon team had just 90 minutes to inflate the balloons.

放飞的气球选用的是100%可降解材质，填充的氦气本身分子小，易升空，无色无味不可燃，能够达到安全又环保的要求。据他介绍，庆祝中国共产党成立100周年大会放飞了10万只气球，共有6种颜色，分别是红、黄、绿、橙、深蓝和浅蓝。10万只气球，被放置在100个笼子当中，每个笼子里装有1000只气球，并配备4名气球放飞员，两两一组，进行气球放飞相关动作的配合。为了保证放飞的美观，每只气球大小要控制在直径25厘米。此外，10万只气球要在90分钟内充气完毕。

 

To master the necessary skills, according to Cui, each volunteer had to inflate around 300 to 400 balloons per day during the training. After months of practice, their hands were bruised, bloodied and calloused. 

崔建伟告诉记者，很多人在训练期间每天要充300~400只气球，需要掌握气球的松紧、放飞的技巧等。长时间的重复性训练，许多人的手磨破了皮，流了血，结了一层茧。

 

The boxes were also specially designed. They were covered in two layers of different material to protect them from the scorching sun.

放置气球的铁笼也暗藏玄机。崔建伟介绍，气球笼有两层，一层是铁网，里面一层是帘子，能够避免气球受到阳光照射而爆炸。

 

It was hard for them to release 100 thousand balloons at the same time. At Tian'anmen Square, signalmen, each holding two flags with different colors, were ready at the designated spots to give signals to the volunteers.

100个气球笼，同一时间放飞，难度很大。崔建伟告诉记者，在天安门广场的不同点位，分布着旗语信号员。旗语信号员手执两种颜色的旗子，所有的开门、关门操作都是通过旗语来指挥完成。

 

"As a member of the CPC, I felt very proud to do so." Cui said that he had imagined the scene when such a large number of balloons were released into the sky, but when it came to the moment in reality, he burst into tears. "Such feelings of excitement and pride were hard to describe."

“我也是一名党员，能够为党贡献自己的微薄之力，我心里是十分自豪的。”崔建伟坦言，自己也曾经幻想过10万只气球在庆祝大会上放飞的场面，真的到了期盼已久的这一刻，他当时泪流满面，“那种激动又自豪的情绪其实是很难形容的。”（中文来源/河南商报 翻译/赵汉青 海报/实习生王君艺 审校/李文竞）