For tourist Lei Huiru there are three must-sees in Beijing: the early-morning flag-raising ceremony, Mao's mausoleum and a bird's-eye view of the capital's Tian'anmen Square from the famous rostrum above the giant wooden doors to the Forbidden City.

The 62-year-old former saleswoman, along with hundreds of thousands of other visitors, will accomplish all three of her goals this week.

The National Day still brings out the masses who share a common pride in their country even though a generation gap is showing in how they remember the day.

While Lei's generation remembers the hardships of decades past, young people, although no less patriotic, see little politics in the holiday.

Chen Zhuo, 23, who has permed, dyed hair and wears a short skirt and high boots, says the seven-day holiday is about fun and relaxation.

"Sure, National Day is a great day that should be celebrated, but for us young people, we'd rather regard it as leisure time to escape work life," said the English teacher.

Lei was born just before the birth of the people's republic, Chen was born right after China's chief economic architect Deng Xiaoping unfurled his road map to economic reforms in the late 1970s.

In the three decades since then, China's rapid economic progress has put money into the pockets of the masses, put political struggles on the sidelines and given more people more lifestyle choices than Lei's generation could ever have imagined.

The toughest choice Chen and her boyfriend had during the weeklong national holiday was to decide against flying to Pingyao, a town famous for its ancient architecture in northern China's Shanxi Province.

Lei will still be in the square at six in the morning to watch with pride as the national flag is raised and 10,000 pigeons are released into the dawn. At that time Chen will likely roll over in bed nursing a hangover.

On the eve of the National Day both are patriotic daughters as they happily reached in their pockets for a yuan to buy a flag to wave.