Teenagers and dama gather in front of a statue of a youthful Mao Zedong on Aug 30. [Photo/IC]

About 1,000 teenagers and square dance dama, or middle aged women, gathered in front of the statue of a youthful Mao Zedong at the Orange Isle in Changsha, central China's Hunan province, on Aug 30.

They lined up in formation to form the Chinese characters "中國人當自強", or "The Chinese should strive to be better", and the number "70". The event was a way for participants to express their patriotic spirit and uphold the Hunan people’s reputation of always daring to be first and different.