Australian Emily Cross, 63, who has lived in Beijing for six years, said she was so excited at being part of the "spectacular" celebration that she got up at 4 a.m. to get ready for rehearsals.

"I was extremely pleased not only for myself, but also because I can represent my country," she said.

David Tool, who will be on the float with Crook and Cross, said his arms ached from waving in rehearsals. "When the float passed Tian'anmen Square, all efforts were worth it," he said.

China complex

Crook recalled earlier celebrations. "I was on the review stand with my parents during the National Day celebrations in the 1950s, and the performance in the Tian'anmen Square was amazing.

"On one National Day in the 1960s, we met Premier Zhou Enlai when we were in the Zhongshan Park (to the west of the Tian'anmen Rostrum). He kindly talked with my family, which is my warmest memory of China's National Day," he said.

He said he had witnessed many of China's National Day celebrations as a stander-by, now he had the chance to be part of it in person and parade with many other foreigners. He said his dream of integrating into the Chinese society finally came true.

David Tool, dressed in "tangzhuang," a general name for traditional Chinese attire, which follows the Manchu fashion style of the late Qing Dynasty, fell in love with the Chinese culture when he started to study Chinese Geography in the United States in the 1960s.

He said he had told his family in the United States that he would live in China forever.

Many foreigners chose to stay longer in China, attracted by the Chinese culture and Chinese people.

"I told my friends that I must have been a Chinese in my previous life," said Italian Pierluigi Cecchi, 65, adding he would stay longer in China to study the eastern mentality.

Indian Manish Chopra, 39, who works for a foreign company in Beijing, said he loved Chinese people and Chinese food. He gave his 8-year-old son the Chinese name "Wang Fujing," after Beijing's main shopping area and a popular tourist attraction.