Lighting up the future for World Children's Day

Cities and communities in China joined hands with youngsters on Tuesday to celebrate World Children's Day by lighting up iconic monuments and buildings, and holding various online and offline events, vowing to create a brighter future for this and future generations of children.

World Children's Day, which falls on Nov 20, is the day when the most widely ratified human rights treaty — the Convention on the Rights of the Child — was adopted. It was drafted to celebrate the progress made for children, hold leaders to account on promises, and remind everyone of the work that remains to be done.

In joining the global message of "Go Blue" proposed by United Nations Children's Fund, Beijing lit up the bubbles of the National Aquatics Center, also known as the "Water Cube". Cities participating in similar action also include Guiyang, Guizhou province; Hohhot, Inner Mongolia autonomous region; Jinan, Shandong province; Jieyang and Shenzhen, Guangdong province.

Zhang Chenxi, a 12-year-old student from Beijing Dongzhimen Junior School, said after lighting up one bubble the action symbolizes the lighting up of children’s futures and the pursuit of creating a better environment for children’s development, so every child can become their best self.

Rana Flowers, UNICEF representative to China, said World Children's Day is a global day of action "for children, by children".