China commemorates 156th birth anniversary of Sun Yat-sen

BEIJING -- A ceremony was held Saturday to commemorate the 156th anniversary of the birth of Sun Yat-sen, a great national hero, great patriot and great forerunner of China's democratic revolution.

The National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country's top political advisory body, held the commemoration ceremony in downtown Beijing's Zhongshan Park, which is named after Sun.

Officials from the CPPCC National Committee, the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, and the Beijing municipal government paid floral tributes to Sun at his statue. Participants in the ceremony paid their respects by bowing three times in front of the statue.

Born in 1866 in South China's Guangdong province, Sun is known for his leading role during the 1911 Revolution, which overthrew the imperial Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and put an end to more than 2,000 years of feudal rule in China.