When Liu Zhen arrived in Beijing at 5 AM on Oct. 1, the National Day of China, he lost no time to take a taxi to the Tian'anmen Square to watch the flag-raising ceremony.

When he arrived, some 120,000 people had already been waiting there in slight rain.

Liu, a farmer from the Yimeng Mountain in the eastern province of Shandong, owns a small wood processing plant and earns some 100,000 yuan (US$13,000) a year.

While watching the national-flag rising into the sky, tears streamed from his eyes. "I just can't help myself; I am overwhelmed with joy," he said.

Without the rapid development of the country, the life of the ordinary people could not improve so much and so quickly, Liu added.

Like Liu, many Chinese have benefited from China's development which has kept at high speed for a dozen years.

The latest profits for many urban residents come from the rising stock market.

Mrs. Zhang, who retired from a middle school 18 years ago, is keen on changes of the stock market which set a new high on the last day's trading before the 7-day holiday began on Oct. 1.

The 75-year-old tired teacher has seen her primary investment of 20,000 yuan quadrupled only a few years since she entered the stock market.

China has set its goal to build up a harmonious society, and a major job in the process is to improve the people's livelihood.

One of the major reforms to this end is to increase the salary of public servants, raise the pension for company retirees, and lift the subsidies for low-income urban residents and other groups receiving special government subsidies.

Meanwhile, China also tries to help more low-income rural residents with a minimum living standard scheme, which, according to Vice-Minister of Civil Affairs Li Liguo, has covered more than 25 million people in rural areas.

A National Statistics Bureau survey over 68,000 rural households showed that farmers' average income in the first half this year reached 2,111 yuan, up 13.3 percent from a year earlier.

Chinese with a swelling purse have spent more on traveling, some for business, some for holiday.

Jin Zhe is an insurance broker who goes onboard three to four times every month. "It is more convenient to book an air ticket now," he said, "I use the electronic ticket. My ID card is my ticket!"

"The country is changing real fast," said Lei Peng, who is engaged in international communication. "Not only those who visited China a decade ago were astonished at the big changes in China, a lot of foreigners who come to China once every one or two years also are surprised to China's fast development."

Almost two years ago, Lei sent a Chinese living in New Zealand a set of Fuwa, the mascots for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The man was grateful for receiving these "good-luck dolls" and said, "Maybe I would be the first one in New Zealand to have a set of Fuwa from my motherland!"

Lei said he could felt his friend was only too anxious to see their motherland become prosperous. "The Chinese in foreign countries, I think, are keen on the development of China because a prosperous China would bring them greater respect," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency October 7, 2007)