1. For most Chinese citizens, watching this month's huge military parade commemorating the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII was just a bit of entertainment. That wasn't the case for China's school-aged children though.
Some of the authors of those essays (or their parents) posted their handwritten pieces on Weibo, providing a rare opportunity to have a peek into their thoughts.
2. Some students found a way to get around the whole "original ideas" part of essay writing.
3. Others needed to learn when to tone down their enthusiasm a little.
4. Some of them not only watched the live broadcast, but also reviewed the parade later so as to write a good essay, according to a mother's account on Weibo.
5. Some chose to highlight what they liked most about the parade, like this student who focused on a single WWII veteran that attended the parade.
"The most heart-wrenching troop was the veteran one. See, a group of old soldiers slowly walked across Tiananmen Square. Their faces are covered with wrinkles, their hairs are all white, they must be at least 90 years old," goes an essay uploaded by a mother self-identified as being from Zhejiang.
"But they raised their old arms — although they couldn't even straighten them nor put together fingers — and paid perfect salute to President Xi," the essay goes. "I'm so touched. They fought in wars 70 years ago regardless of their own safety for our peace and happiness today."
"The kid writes better than I did years ago," the author of the Weibo post wrote.