Chinese Acrobats, 3,000 Big Macs Mark ‘4th’ in Beijing

BEIJING — Americans in China celebrated Independence Day on Saturday with dragon dances, Chinese acrobats, an Air Force band and 3,000 McDonald’s Big Macs.

More than 1,500 Americans living in China, from Beijing to the far northwestern Xinjiang region, gathered at the U.S. Embassy in the capital for the early celebration.

Chinese guards were posted outside the embassy compound, and a metal detector was set up at the main entrance.

Each year for the last five years, McDonald’s in Hong Kong has flown in thousands of Big Macs for the Fourth of July. But this year, the McDonald’s monopoly over the party was broken by Kentucky Fried Chicken, which donated 1,000 meals.

U.S. Ambassador Winston Lord, dressed as a cowboy in a white vest, red shirt and straw hat, called on Americans to exercise their right to vote.

“There is one important, almost mystical right that Americans carry wherever our roads may lead--the right to vote,” he said. “I encourage you to vote. . . . There is nothing quite like this American expression of will.”

Lord’s 10-minute speech ended in a deafening roar of firecrackers. Two teams of dragon dancers, accompanied by clanging cymbals, then took over the show.