China's ever-largest naval display a hit among people, on line or off

A naval parade of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy warships is held in waters off Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, on April 23, 2009. The parade displayed 25 naval vessels and 31 aircraft of the PLA Navy, including two nuclear submarines, as part of a celebration to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the PLA Navy. (Xinhua/Zha Chunming)

Naval warships are seen during a naval parade of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy warships and aircraft in waters off China's port city of Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, on April 23, 2009. (Xinhua/Li Gang)

BEIJING, April 24 (Xinhua) -- China's grand naval display, held Thursday in waters off Qingdao, has been quite a hit among Chinese people online and offline, due to its unprecedented scale and the modern warships that are usually kept mysterious from the public.

The display, joined by 25 vessels and 31 naval aircraft of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy and 21 vessels from 14 foreign countries, included the debut of China's nuclear submarines.

Thanks to the wide media coverage days before the event, which was to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of PLA Navy, people nationwide showed zeal in watching the ceremony and, for people in Qingdao, even boarding the foreign ships.

Apart from being simply patriotic about the country's growing naval might, people have also developed opinions about the vessels and aircraft displayed and even the global military landscape.

A netizen named "Tan Yang" wrote on a popular military fan Web site, xinjunshi.com, "People born half a century ago may have all watched films like 'The Story of a Boatswain' and 'The Sea Hawk'. We've come all the way from small ships to nuclear submarines and missile destroyers."

Another netizen named "Hua Zhong Dong" wrote on sdnews.com, a news portal of Shandong Province where Qingdao is located, "Our navy must build strong deterrence and combating skills to safeguard our interests and safety in the ocean."

Though official voices have been quiet in the past days about China's attempts to build an aircraft carrier, the subject has been heatedly discussed on the Internet.