2018年10月1日，伴随着清晨第一缕阳光，高亢激昂的升旗号角划破长空，五星红旗冉冉升起，来自十多个国家的燕京学堂的同学们，聚集在天安门广场，共同庆祝中华人民共和国69岁华诞。作为燕京学堂的传统，每年国庆节前夜，书院辅导员(Residential Advisor)都会组织同学们凌晨从北京大学出发，步行四个小时到天安门广场观礼国庆升旗仪式。
同学们在步行前往天安门广场途中，一路上相互交流，不仅增进了彼此的认识，更对各自国家的历史文化有了进一步的了解。人声鼎沸的天安门广场、“祝福祖国”的巨型花篮、英姿飒爽的仪仗队、自豪热烈的无数观礼观众，点燃了同学们的热情，他们激动地同远在海外的家人及朋友们分享着现场的一个个瞬间。
Anastasiia Kurbatova (Russia): I personally feel it was a great bonding experience, when we all walked together for such a long time, got to know many of scholars better. It was tough at the end as everyone was already tired, but the feeling of an accomplishment is great.
Emily Vincent (United States): One of the most interesting things I observed was the way children got to experience the event. While the adults (including ourselves) were packed in tight to get a glimpse of the flag, all of the children in the crowd were sitting on their parent's shoulders. They became the “look outs” for the rest of us, and every time something of note happened it was a child who announced it and set off thousands of arms and cameras reaching into the air.
Noah Gitta (United States): Once we got to the square, we had actually managed to get close enough to see where the soldiers would march. We huddled together and waited until the sunrise. We took photos of the front of the Forbidden City and children on their parents’ shoulders waving their flags. After an hour or so, you hear “lai le, lai le, lai le” and everyone's phones go up in the air, preventing us from actually seeing what's happening but instead allowing us to watch it from their small screens! In a short instance of 2 minutes, you start to see the flag slowly rising up the pole. Shortly after we’re pleasantly surprised to see a swarm of birds released across the light blue sky, making for a picturesque end to our march.
郭圆圆 (中国): Excited as I was to participate in the long march on this very day, I feared that I might not make it, a long walk with a distance of 16 km after midnight to Tian'anmen Square. With the company of Yenching community, I got a chance to explore the city of Beijing in another way: ruins with contemporary architecture, darkness, silence, city lights, steely structures, etc, we talked about the similarities and differences of the national history and we examined the patriotism and how the young people could contribute to the society. The Tian'anmen Square, as it turned out, was shining with numerous lights and people from all parts of China, which was really impressive.
文字：施文纨
图片：Emily Vincent, Gabriel Losada Perez, Valeryia Liseichykava, Veronika Spurná
