Central Military Band of the People's Liberation Army of China
Chinese musical group; military band
The Central Military Band of People's Liberation Army of China (Chinese: 中国人民解放军军乐团) is a military music unit made for state ceremonies carried out by the People's Liberation Army of China. For more than 70 years, the band has acted as the musical branch of the PLA. The musicians of the orchestra are required to play ceremonial music for visiting heads of state and government, as well as perform during national events such as the National Day of the People's Republic of China and PLA Day. The band is currently led by Colonel Commandant Zhang Haifeng, who has been in the band since 1988.
History
In August 1949, the North China Military Band was founded with 200 members in Beiyuan under the North China Military Region. On October 1, 1949, at the proclamation ceremony of the PRC, the military band played in its debut appearance to a huge crowd in Tiananmen Square, playing for the first time the National Anthem (March of the Volunteers), and as the musical accompaniment for the first military parade in the PRC's history. Since 1950 it has played in all National Day Parades and in major national events, first as the Headquarters Band of the Beijing Capital Garrison (since 1952) and later on as the Central Band of the Beijing Military Region and today as the Central Military Band of the People's Liberation Army of China. It is a vital part of the Beijing Capital Garrison and the PLA General Headquarters, but also performs in events around the PRC and in events overseas.
In 1959, as part of the 10th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, the massed bands (of which the central band was among) consisting of one thousand musicians wearing olive-green uniforms opened the ceremony with the song The East is Red, which was timed to the arrival of Chairman Mao Zedong and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev at 09.45 on the grandstand. As of 2012, the Chinese People's Liberation Army Central Military Band has successively performed at 14 National Day military parades since the founding of the People's Republic of China and the 2015 China Victory Day Parade as part of a 1,000+ joint-military band contingent which was first conceived by Mao in 1950. It has also had the honor of playing at social events such as during the 1990 Asian Games, 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the National People's Congress opening ceremony, the Shanghai World Expo as well as visits of heads of state and heads of government.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Central Military Band of the People's Liberation Army of China” is chinese musical group; military band. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Central, Military and Band, not as a finished interpretation.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q10872934. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1988, 1949, 1950 and 1952.
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