First three-service women formation debuts in military parade

BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) - A military formation, consisting of women soldiers from the land, naval and air forces, made its debut in the National Day military parade in Beijing on Thursday.

The formation had 378 soldiers, 26 more than other groups and also the largest in the world's modern military parade history.

The troops, with an average age of 22 and height of 169 cm, were from ten ethnic groups, including Han, Manchu, Hui, Mongolia,Tibetan, Miao, Zhuang, Li, Yao and Qiang.

Among the group is Tang Tian, who is pursuing her PhD degree in epidemiology.

The 26-year-old said in an interview with Xinhua earlier that she never thought "walking" could be much harder than passing the exams for the PhD program.

The young women, however, have displayed the same determination and will power as men and had trained themselves even harder.

Qin Yuyan, of Qiang ethnic minority from Beichuan, southwestern province of Sichuan, applied to join the formation even shortly after her surgical operation.

"Please let me represent the Qiang ethnic group, Beichuan and the quake-hit region, and be reviewed by the motherland and people, and express my heartfelt gratitude," she wrote.

Qin, a student from the Bethune Military Medical College, lost seven relatives during the Wenchuan earthquake in May last year.

Qin was said to have trained herself so hard that she walked goose steps on the way to the toilet.

"The whole world is watching us," Gesangmaiduo, a Tibetan girl in the formation, said.

"I want the world to see that Han, Tibetan and other people are of one family and nobody could separate us," said the 21-year-old.

China has the largest number of women troops in the world. They play vital roles in military fields such as medicare, telecommunications, art, education, press and theoretical research.

In recent years, more women soldiers have started to shine in fields traditionally dominated by males, such as jet fighter pilots, weaponry developers, anti-terror special forces and amphibious reconnaissance troops.