Marching with honor: Women soldier carrying the flag

Cheng Cheng stands as a flag bearer in air force uniform in the honor guards. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

On Oct 1, 2009, Cheng wore uniform like other parade soldiers and cheered for her teammates in Changan Avenue.

"When I saw our formation go through the Tian'anmen Square perfectly, I broke into tears." Cheng said.

Just when Cheng thought her parade miss would be a lifetime pity, she got an interview from the three-service honor guards in January 2014.

"My family and I all thought it was a great opportunity to make up the pity of the parade in 2009, because joining in the honor guards would be as much honorable as attending the parade," Cheng said.

The three-service honor guards, belonging to Beijing garrison force, are mainly in charge of welcoming foreign heads of state during their visit to China and attending grand ceremonies such as National Day military parades, the handover ceremonies of Hong Kong and Macao, major military drills and Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. It has accomplished over 4000 tasks since its founding in 1952.