Amidst the strains of their red five-star national anthem, champagne, fireworks and tears too, the Chinese, who make up one-fifth of the world's population, are spending a sleepless night to greet Macao's return to the motherland, and celebrating the upcoming new millennium ahead of the rest of the world.

Toward the midnight of December 19, when Chinese and Portuguese presidents, Jiang Zemin and Jorge Sampaio, led their respective government delegations onto the venue for Macao's power handover ceremony, and the celebration activities reached a climax at the very beginning.

The appearance of Zhuo Lin, in her black evening dress, also drew long and warm applauses from the attendants. She is widow of the late Chinese senior leader Deng Xiaoping who put forward the "one country systems" policy.

Tung Chee Hwa, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), who has led China's first SAR for 2 years, sat by her side.

The venue for the handover ceremony locates along a section of the coast of the South China Sea where European vessels had cruised centuries ago. There stands a rainbow-shape bridge, a new symbol of Macao, illuminated in the historic night by the lights from inside the hall of the handover ceremony.

Military bands of the two countries were playing well-selected musical pieces. The Chinese were playing "Good Days" and "My Chinese Heart", while the Portuguese a slow Portuguese folk song " Cancao do Mar", or "Song of Sea", which recalls Portugal's history of navigation.

Days ago, the newly acquainted young armymen of the two countries had conducted a combined rehearsal and had brief discussions about music.

Light green carpet was laid out on the rostrum, and all the chairs were also painted soft green, the same as the color of the flag of the Macao Special Administration Region (SAR) of China.

The Portuguese first set foot on the Chinese territory, Macao, in 1553 and gradually occupied the region, and Portugal returned Macao to China today.

Delivering a farewell speech which lasted around seven minutes the handover ceremony, Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio noted that the Macao Special Administrative Region would be established on the unique land blending different cultures and styles of living.

At the end of his speech, he walked over to Chinese president Jiang Zemin and firmly shook hands with him.

At 23:58 of December 19, the Portuguese national flag, symbol of a Portuguese navigating pioneer, began to be lowered like a piece of sail. The flag of the Portuguese Macao Municipal Council was lowered at the same time.

Beginning from exactly zero hour, the red five-star Chinese national flag was hoisted by Zhu Tao, a young and stalwart captain of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. He was also the Chinese national flag raiser at the Hong Kong handover ceremony and the ceremony held in Beijing to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of New China.

"It was my mission," Zhu said after the handover ceremony, adding that "The changing of flags was the last on the Chinese territory."

The green regional flag of the Macao SAR with the design of a lotus flower was also hoisted at the same time by a local policeman. The red and green flags seemed rather attractive in the spacious and bright hall.

Three Portuguese soldiers folded up their lowered national flag and walked out of the rostrum. The hall was silent except for the waning sound of their steps and the fluttering sound of China's national flag and the Macao SAR flag.

The Portuguese rule over Macao came to an end. "This important event will be remembered in history forever," Chinese President Jiang Zemin said at the handover ceremony. In the meantime, he spoke highly of the friendly consultations between the two countries in solving the Macao issue.

The two heads of state stood up and walked briskly toward each other, holding each other's hands firmly amidst the flashing lights of cameras.

Seventeen minutes after zero hour, Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji bid farewell to Jorge Sampaio at the gate of the handover venue.

In about an hour, the Portuguese president and Macao's last Portuguese governor, Vasco Rocha Vieira, boarded a plane and left Macao, just days prior to the coming new millennium.