On October 1st, last year a mass pageant was held in Beijing to celebrate the founding of the People's Republic of China.

The spectacle included 8,000 handpicked soldiers, 1,300 military band musicians, a choir of 2,400 singers, 80,000 school students, 60 floats, 50,000 balloons, aircraft , missiles, armored vehicles and the symbol of peace...doves. There were tens of thousands of those.

A further 100,000 local citizens helped out by waving pieces of coloured material with perfect timing.

Everything was utterly ordered.

Even the height of the soldiers was ordered. They were all required to be between 163 cm and 175cm tall. Those who were chosen trained ten hours a day for six to 12 months.

Organisers wanted the pageant to showcase the spectacular achievements made by the People's Republic of China since 1949.

To assist in ensuring a perfect display of Chinese progress and order the soldiers were offered adult incontinence nappies. The 80,000 school students all wore nappies. (Chinese students who were practicing for the event shared this information with a wotwaste colleague during September this year.)