Two models led the Beijing women militia formation past the Tian'anmen Rostrum in the center of Beijing on Thursday.

As one of three women military formations, this was also the last of 14 regiments on foot and a highlight of the military parade.

The young women in red aroused huge cheering from the crowds as they marched down the Chang'an Avenue, the main east-west road artery in Beijing.

Among the group were college students, civil servants, teachers, nurses, village officials, and returned overseas students.

The members had an average age of 22 and were all from Beijing's Chaoyang District.

"During Beijing Olympics last year, I showed the world the sweet-natured beauty of Chinese women," Zhao Na said before the parade. " While this time, we'll show the world our ironbound beauty."

"We have trained as hard as men soldiers," Zhang Xiaofei said.

Zhao and Zhang, both 178 cm high, headed the formation. They are students majored at modeling at China Women's University and served as mistresses of ceremony for the Beijing Olympics last summer.

Their "goose-stepping" images, though quite different from that of the "catwalk" escorts last summer, are equally beautiful after months of hard training.

The young women, however, were not accustomed to the disciplined military lifestyle in the parade training village in the beginning.

"The parade is more than moves, it is about spirits," captain Li Yantian said.

The capital women militia first appeared in the National Day parade in 1958 and were called "Militia Flowers" and "Iron Roses" in military displays in 1984 and 1999.

(Xinhua News Agency October 1, 2009)