Editor's Notes:

2009 marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of People's Republic of China. Since 1949, enormous changes have taken place in China, and many events have gone down in history as a part of the national memory. In the next 6 weeks, China.org.cn will present a series of old photos to review the past 60 years in order to remember the great people and achievements of the country.

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1 The Jiangyin Yangtze River Bridge opened to traffic on September 28, 1999.
2 The State Council held a national conference in which 1,254 model institutions and individuals that excelled in promoting national unity and progress were commended.
3 This photo of easily accessible country roads in Yishui County of the Shandong Province was taken on November 26, 1999. By the end of 2008, the total mileage of rural roads had reached 3.7 million kilometers, 45 times longer than it was originally during the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
4 This panoramic photo of the power plant and sluicing system beside the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydroelectric power plant, was taken in August 2000.
5 Wu Wenjun, an academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Yuan Longping, dubbed as the "Father of Hybrid Rice," of the Chinese Academy of Engineering won the first National Top Sci-Tech Prize of China on February 19, 2001.
6 This panoramic photo of the power plant and sluicing system beside the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydroelectric power plant, was taken in August 2001.
7 After 15 years of arduous efforts, the protocol on the PRC's WTO entry was approved and adopted at the Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference held in Doha, capital of Qatar, by representatives from142 members on November 11, 2001.
8 In April 2002, Indian merchants visited the 2002 China Chenghai International Toys and Gifts Fair at the Chenghai Exhibition Center.
9 HSBC (Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp) was permitted to provide foreign currency exchange services for mainland residents in Beijing and Shanghai on April 18, 2002, which made HSBC the first bank in Beijing with this capability.
10 Numerous cars at FAW (First Automobile Works), the pioneer of China's automotive industry, await to be delivered. This photo was taken in July 2002.
11 This photo of the Labor Market of Longgang Town in Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, was taken on November 14, 2002. Tens of thousands of migrant workers find jobs there each year.
12 SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) is a respiratory disease in humans which is caused by the SARS coronavirus. Four SARS cases occurred from December 16, 2002, to January 8, 2003, in the city of Guangzhou, Guangdong Province.
13 This photo of the manufacturing line of FAW Jiefang Automobile Co., Ltd, was taken in July 2002.
14 A farmer receives a documentation of proof for the Rural Cooperation Medical-care System in Kaihua County, Zhejiang Province.
15 On October 15, 2003, China launched its first manned space flight and became the third country to put a man into orbit. The manned spacecraft Shenzhou V carried a single "taikonaut" named Yang Liwei, 38, following a trail blazed by Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and American Alan Shepard in 1961.
16 This photo of Dalian Port's 300,000-ton ore terminal that was put into use in the latter half of 2004 was taken on April 25, 2005.
17 In the early morning of August 18, 2004, the EMS (Enhanced Message Service) "Next-day Delivery" service was put into practice. Based in Shanghai, it is an EMS day-certain courier service provided by China Post among some major cities domestic and abroad via the self-run air express network of "Overnight Flight".
18 A vaccine against the virus that causes SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) had completed the first stage of safety tests in China by the end of 2004.
19 Mail carrier Wang Shunyou has trudged bumpy mountainous paths for 20 years by foot, his total distance traveled equaling six round-world trips. Muli County, sitting at the outskirts of the southern Tibetan tableland in Liangshan Prefecture of southwest China's Sichuan Province, is a mountainous county with an average altitude of more than 3,100 meters. Due to the arduous valley and scattered villages, it is impossible to deliver mail by any other means except by foot.
20 The Anti-Secession Law was passed by the third plenary session of the 10th National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (PRC). It was ratified on March 14, 2005, and went into effect immediately.
21 Hu Jintao, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee (CPCCC), met Lien Chan, then-KMT chairman, for the first time in April 2005. The meeting was hailed as epoch-making.
22 A farmer from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region harvested grapes with great joy on August 22, 2005.
23 Two women workers managed their wicker products in Funan County, Anhui Province, on October 18, 2005. The wicker products attracted many foreign investors and, as a result, solved unemployment problems for hundreds of villagers.
24 This photo of the Tianjin Port was taken on November 8, 2005. Tianjin Port, 170 km southeast of Beijing and east of Tianjin city, is located to the west of Bohai Bay and in the estuary of the Haihe River. It is the largest man made seaport and river port in Chinese mainland.
25 In recent years, rural issues have received much attention from the central authorities. On December 29, 2005, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress abolished the "regulations of agricultural tax" which had been in place for 48 years. This decision came into force on January 1, 2006.
26 In January 2005, a team from the Chinese National Antarctic Research Expeditions (CHINARE) traversed 1,228 km from Zhongshan Station to Dome A and located the highest point of the ice sheet (4,093 m above sea level) by GPS survey at 80°22' S 77°21' E on January 18. This point is near one end of an elongated ridge about 60 km long and 10 km wide that is a major ice divide with an elevation difference of only a few meters along its length.
27 Villagers from the Shilin Yi Autonomous County of Yunnan observe the listed medical fees published by the local community for the Rural Cooperation Medical-care System.
28 The Qinghai-Tibet Railway came into operation on July 1, 2006. The first train leaves Golmud, the second largest city of Qinghai in northwest China, for Lhasa, in the Tibet Autonomous Region, every morning.
29 China launched the first "Compass" navigation satellite into geostationary orbit in April 2007 to build up its own positioning system. It also successfully launched its second navigational satellite on April 15, 2009, as part of the country's independent global satellite navigation system. The carrier rocket, Long March 3C, blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province.
30 Chang'e 1, the first Chinese lunar-orbiting spacecraft, was launched on October 24, 2007, and ended its 16-month mission with a controlled crash onto the moon on March 1, 2009.
31 Chang'e 1, the first Chinese lunar-orbiting spacecraft, was launched on October 24, 2007 and ended its 16-month mission with a controlled crash onto the moon on March 1, 2009.
32 The Xiangfeng, or "Flying Phoenix," is towed into a hangar at the Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Factory amid flashing laser lights and rousing band music during the unveiling ceremony in Shanghai on December 21, 2007.
33 With a speed of 300 kilometers per hour, the first bullet train designed and manufactured in China rolled off the production line on December 22, 2007.
34 This photo is of the Sutong Bridge over the Yangtze River. The main span of the bridge is up to 1,088 m, making it the world's largest cable-stayed bridge. After its completion, the travel distance between Nantong and Shanghai was reduced to merely around one hour.
35 The 2008 Sichuan earthquake, measured at a deadly magnitude 8, occurred at 14:28:01 on May 12, 2008, in Wenchuan, Sichuan Province, and killed at least 68,000. The earthquake reportedly left about 4.8 million people homeless, though the number may have been as high as 11 million. Approximately 15 million people lived in the affected area.
36 China hosted the 29th Olympic Games in Beijing on August 8, 2008. At 8 pm, the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympics Games was held in the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest. As IOC President Jacques Rogge described 16 days later, it was truly exceptional.
37 The Olympic rings are lifted during the opening ceremony for the Beijing 2008 Olympics on August 8, 2008.
38 Fireworks go off at the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games in the National Stadium in Beijing on September 6, 2008.
39 Artists perform at the Closing Ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games in the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, in Beijing on September 17, 2008.
40 The Shenzhou VII spacecraft, the third human spaceflight mission of the Chinese space program, carrying 3 crew members – Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng -- was launched on September 25, 2008.
41 In January 2009, China issued 3G licenses to China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom, which in turn allowed users to enjoy high-speed services such as video calls and film downloads on their cell phones.
42 This photo of the Nanjing Dashengguan Yangtze Bridge on the verge of being connected was taken on May 24, 2009.
43 This photo taken on September 15, 2009, shows Tian'anmen Square in Beijing as it is being decorated for China's National Day celebration on October 1.
44 Waist drum dancers from Ansai County of northwest China's Shaanxi Province attend a rehearsal for the upcoming National Day massive celebration in Beijing, on Sept. 16, 2009. The celebration will be held in Tian'anmen Square on Oct. 1 for the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.