Konstantin Altunyan:
“There was a terrible downpour in Guangzhou last night and I was very afraid that it would disrupt our entire event. But this morning the sun came out and dispersed the clouds over our head. Everything was decided with the weather, it remained to get to the gathering place. In general, the idea to hold the Immortal Regiment campaign in Guangzhou came to me during the next conference of compatriots that took place in early April in the beautiful northern city of Shenyang. I already knew that on May 9, 2016, the Immortal Regiment marched for the first time in Beijing in the park near the Russian Embassy. This year, many people wanted to hold an action but were afraid of a negative reaction from the Chinese authorities. It was at this moment that I decided that we would definitely hold an action in Guangzhou. Without approval, just like that.
There was very little time to prepare, because just before May 9 in China, the famous Canton Fair takes place in Guangzhou, which begins on April 15 and ends on May 5, at one time or another, many Russian-speaking residents of the city are busy with it and do not have the opportunity to prepare for the holiday in time. I thought for a long time where to hold our march, which would be symbolic and not at the peak of the Chinese authorities, and eventually chose the memorial park in memory of the revolutionaries. The fact is that in this park there is, in principle, the only monument in Guangzhou that is somehow connected with the Soviet Union. This monument is dedicated to the memory of Soviet diplomats shot by the Kuomintang authorities. Therefore, I decided that the march would be from the central gate of the park to the monument. It’s probably 800 meters to walk. So, there is very little time left, we urgently found a workshop and ordered portraits from them, we ordered portrait holders on everyone’s favorite Internet resource Taobao, St. George ribbons and flags were taken out of the storerooms. A special group was created on the Wichat social network, passwords and turnouts were announced. It’s time to perform. On the morning of May 9, it turned out to be clear and bright, despite previous forecasts, after loading everything we needed into the car, we drove to the meeting place. Honestly, I expected that there would be only 5-10 people, and I was very surprised by the large number of people who came. The park always has big problems with parking, so I had to park in the shopping center opposite and walk across the street with all the props. There were 55-60 of us and everyone was in a very high mood, dressed up, with flowers and flags, with kids, with portraits of their relatives of war veterans. We waited for all the latecomers, took a group photo against the background of a stele in the form of a bayonet raised to the sky in our hand and lined up for a solemn march. The Chinese were delighted, I am sure that the Chinese blogosphere is full of photos of our march today. In front of the column were two flag bearers with the Victory flag and the flag of the USSR. After passing the first 300 meters, I began to notice suspiciously many policemen who competently encircled our column. At first, I tensed up, thinking that now they would ask us to stop waving flags and disperse altogether, but it turned out they were just accompanying us, clearing the way for us, showing the way, dispersing the crowd. The rumor about our column had already spread throughout the park, so when we approached the monument, we were already greeted by a huge crowd of Chinese, and greeted with Stormy applause. In a good way, everyone was shocked. No one expected such a wonderful reaction. Climbing the steps to the Soviet Pavilion, we honored the memory of the victims with a minute of silence. After that, there was a series of laying flowers at the monument’s pedestal. Then there was a group photo and a joint performance of the song Victory Day, accompanied by Lev Valerianovich. This was the end of the march. The first march of the Immortal Regiment in Guangzhou was a great success! Next year we will repeat and strengthen it!!! Hooray comrades, Happy Victory Day to all of us!!!”
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With respect,
Russian Club Guangzhou
club@russianguangzhou.com
Wechat id: russianguangzhou