In contrast to the big parade through Tian'anmen Square on Oct. 1, ordinary Chinese are exploring various creative ways to celebrate the 60th founding anniversary of New China.

"One's contribution is a "must-do" for such a national festival," says a post on popular online community www.tianya.cn. It is collecting original programs from netizens around the world for the website's National Day online gala.

The gala is scheduled for broadcast on Tianya at 8:00 p.m. Thursday, simultaneously with the grand evening gala and fireworks display in Tian'anmen Square.

But the playbill will be quite different. There will be costume role play utilizing historical figures and rap versions of patriotic songs.

On the website, another hot event is the photo contest, "Let's boast of the Beauty of China." It has aroused many people's enthusiasm to contribute picture archives.

A click of a mouse and one will be amused by old posters of China printed throughout a century, or surprised by breathtaking landscape in Xinjiang. Pictures of flowers along Beijing's Chang'an Avenue this month are also on display.

The winners will be chosen by Tianya netizens on Oct. 8.

Other netizens at Tianya are collecting old photos of dressing styles over the 60 years. Many have responded with rare photos, from Soviet-style Braji dress and Lenin coats in the 1950s to black leggings and chalk-white sneakers in the 1990s.

"It's so nostalgic," said netizen "Jiang Nuannuan" in a post.

Cyber game players are joining in too. Students from the Qingdao Technological University have produced a video of a National Day military parade attended by imaginary figures from "Warcraft", a popular computer game.

Humans, orcs, elves and the undead walk in this parade, which might be a bit naughty but is very popular. The video has received more than 600 posts saying "Happy Birthday" to China.

The most down-to-earth commemoration of New China's 60th birthday comes from farmers in eastern Shandong Province. They recently put together a national flag of China made from 500 kilograms of red peppers and 600 ears of corn. The farm-produced flag is 15 meters long and 10 meters wide.

People are celebrating in their dress and hair styles as well. "National Day wear" is developing into a fashion.

Among more than a thousand kinds of T-shirts sold on the shopping website www.taobao.com, many depict maps of China's and its great leader Mao Zedong.

A seller named "Earth Design" said, "Shirts with a National Day theme are the most popular. We sold more than 1,000 pieces in a single day this month."

A hairdresser in central Henan Province designed a number of cool hair styles allowing young people to voice their patriotism in less traditional ways.

They can dye their hair the color of the national flag or have it cut and shaped into Tian'anmen Rostrum. And it is all free.

The more astonishing display is a teenage girl's body painting.

In pictures she posted, she has painted designs showing the founding ceremony of New China in 1949, the successful launch of China's first man-made satellite in 1970, the reform and opening up from 1978 and the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Now, three college students from eastern Zhejiang Province have an ambitious plan to reproduce the current hit star-studded epic film "The Founding of a Republic" recounting China's history from 1945 to 1949. They plan to film using a cast and technicians drawn from ordinary people.

Although many have doubted the possibility of making such a film, Gong Yuanzeng, one of its initiators, said, "The most important thing is we do something for the motherland's birthday."