Lighting a new eternal flame and striking the world's largest bronze bell, revelers in the Chinese capital of Beijing ushered in a new era.

Gongs and drums, lion and dragon dances, flowers and laughter filled the 4.5-hectare China Centenary Altar. Braving wintry wind, the jubilant multitude awaited the historic moment.

As a huge countdown board indicated only 20 seconds until the year 2000, more than 20,000 people on the altar cheerfully chanted:"Twenty, Nineteen, Eighteen ... Three, Two, One!"

As the digital countdown reached zero, Chinese President Jiang Zemin pressed a button, and a flame instantly leaped up fromthe center of a square at the south side of the altar. The fire

will be preserved eternally.

At the same time, people began to strike a 50-ton bell placed at the east side of the altar, a memorial structure built for greeting the new century and new millennium. Twenty one thundering

tolls of the bell echoed through Beijing.

"The Chinese nation will be rejuvenated due to the motherland 's complete reunification and the establishment of a prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced and modern socialist

country," Jiang said.

Merrymakers set off an array of fireworks which spelled out "2000" in the dark sky. Two hundred youngsters representing the country's 56 ethnic groups, all wearing their traditional clothing,danced delightedly. Nine dragon figures flying over the frolicking crowd and a sea of flowers marked the gala's climax.

Flames lit the smiling faces of the people. The fire for the eternal flame was brought from Zhoukoudian, 48 kilometers from downtown Beijing. There, in 1923, archeologists discovered the

fossil remains of Peking Man, an evolutionary ancestor of man some 600,000 years old.

The fire was brought to the altar by 1.87-meter-tall Dabenna,a young man from Inner Mongolia who studies law at Beijing University.

Looking up at the altar shaped like a giant sundial, Tang Shaoguo, who took part in the building of the altar that combines both traditional and modern styles, said China is certain to build an even more prosperous civilization as long as it walks on the right path, as it is doing right now.