Xian, China - Feng Jianhan, 9, puts on
his olive-coloured army uniform, cap and white satin gloves each
morning, and goosesteps across his living room.
As the national anthem plays in the background, he stands by
a home-made pulley system, solemnly hoists the Chinese national
flag and raises hand to cap in a salute.
Dubbed the "national flag baby" by Chinese media, the boy
has captivated the country, appearing on videos and TV shows,
especially in the run up to Communist China's 70th anniversary
on Tuesday.
"I've made raising the flag my daily habit," said Feng.
"Just like brushing my teeth or washing my face, you can't not
brush your teeth or wash your face."
The boy's father, Feng Xie, said Jianhan's habit started
when he was a toddler. Upset one day, he stopped crying when he
heard China's national anthem playing on TV during a
flag-raising ceremony.
Since then, his parents have played the national anthem and
shown him recordings of flag-raising ceremonies to soothe him
whenever he was crying.
As Jianhan grew, he wanted to enact the flag raising
ceremony in his home and asked his parents for a uniform, a flag
and a pulley system to raise it.
"We didn't know where to buy them," his father said.
But slowly, it all came together.
Material for the uniform came from bedding sold at an army
surplus market; the flag from a flag seller, and the pulley
system from a construction supplies store.
The boy now has bigger dreams.
"I want to raise the flag at Tiananmen Square in Beijing,"
he said, in reference to the square in the centre of the
nation's capital where a daily flag raising ceremony takes
place.