Army cadets shout slogans while marching past Tiananmen Square during a parade to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in Beijing on Thursday. (Joe Chan/Reuters)

Tanks and other heavy weaponry rumbled across Beijing behind goose-stepping troops as China celebrated 60 years of communist rule Thursday with the biggest military review in its history.

The elaborate ceremony commemorating the founding of the People's Republic unfolded on national television but behind tight security that excluded ordinary people from getting near the parade route through Tiananmen Square.

Precisely choreographed, the 2½ -hour event hewed closely to tradition. President Hu Jintao, in a Mao jacket instead of a business suit, rode in an open top Red Flag limousine to review the thousands of troops.

A parade of kitschy floats, flanked by more than 100,000 people, lauded the communist revolution and the Beijing Olympics. The biggest difference was the weaponry, more than had been shown before and most of which was domestically produced: dozens of fighter jets and hundreds of tanks, artillery and trucks carrying long-range, nuclear-capable missiles.

"On this joyful and solemn occasion, all the peoples across the nation feel extremely proud for the progress and development of the motherland and have full confidence in the bright prospects for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation," Hu said in a short speech standing atop Tiananmen gate with the rest of the collective leadership looking on.

Change of fortunes

Behind the celebrations is the tremendous change of fortunes China has experienced.

A few Beijing residents managed to view the military parade on Thursday. (Andy Wong/Associated Press)China has gone from poor and internationally weak when the communists took over on Oct. 1, 1949, to the world's third-largest economy whose input the U.S. superpower seeks to solve the global economic crisis and Iran's nuclear challenge.

Unmentioned during the event and crescendo of state media hype in recent weeks were the ruinous campaigns of revolutionary leader Mao Zedong that left tens of millions dead — as well as the country's current challenges: a widening gap between rich and poor, rampant corruption, severe pollution and ethnic uprisings in the western areas of Tibet and Xinjiang.

The spectacle seemed to follow on the stunning opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics a year ago. A gala and fireworks were planned late Thursday for Tiananmen Square. While the Olympics were meant to mark China's arrival on the world stage, the parade squarely aimed to please a domestic audience.

"China's power makes us proud. Over the span of 60 years China has developed so rapidly," said retiree Wang Shumin, standing in a back alley watching the parade on TV through a shop window. "China is now powerful and has a position on the world stage."

Tight security

Police maintained a visible presence, clearly worried that crowds might get out of hand, either from over exuberance or to protest the grievances that constantly simmer in Chinese society. The large-screen television outside the Beijing Railway Station that normally streams programs throughout the day was switched off.

Participants march during a grand parade in Beijing to mark the 60th anniversary of China on Thursday. (Ng Han Guan/Associated Press)Still, the thousand or so people cheered "long live China" when they heard Hu's voice blaring from loudspeakers two blocks away as he reviewed the troops. Police shouted "calm down" and "don't yell."

Some Chinese grumbled that the security dampened what could have been a more public celebration and showed the government's distrust of people.

In Hong Kong, which has Western-style civil liberties as part of its special semiautonomous status, hundreds of people protested Thursday, denouncing China's human-rights record during 60 years of communist rule.

About 200 people marched through the downtown financial district, chanting, "We want human rights. We don't want a sanitized National Day."