Gao Yuan looks at photos he's taken. [Photo/VCG]

Close-ups

More than 60 percent of those getting their photo taken were senior citizens, Gao said. They seemed to have had a special feeling for the square. Some couldn't help but cry while watching the national flag rise. Taking a photo with the Tian'anmen rostrum also was a must for them.

Gao recalled taking a picture last Oct 1, China's National Day, of one veteran when he came to Tian'anmen Square for the first time. It happened to be the man's birthday and the veteran, who was more than 70 years old, said he had stood the entire way on his train journey from a county in Central China's Henan province, because he couldn't get a ticket with a seat. It was raining the day the picture was taken but the veteran brought out a neat military uniform and put it on. The man then posed for his photo, which Gao said was very moving.