The mainland marked the 91st anniversary of the Communist Party yesterday in a low-key affair, compared with the elaborate celebrations last year.
Vice-President Xi Jinping reportedly presided over the launch of the multimedia websites for party members on Saturday, while Xinhua and the People's Daily appeared to be the only mainstream state media yesterday to carry editorials glorifying the party.
Last month, the mainland successfully concluded its longest space mission with its first female in space and two other crew members on board, and it also challenged the deep-sea world record as its manned submersible dived 7,000 metres below sea level.
It appears the historic voyages were aimed more at drumming up national pride and enthusiasm for the party's upcoming 18th congress, which is expected to approve the country's once-in-a-decade leadership change, rather than serving as anniversary presents.
As the date of the congress, scheduled for sometime in autumn, draws nearer, there has been rising scrutiny and speculation - both international and domestic - about the party's future direction and the composition of its new leadership.
On July 1 last year, President Hu Jintao warned that the party was faced with four dangers, including that it was 'lacking in spirit, incapable, divorced from the people, and passive and corrupt'.
As if to prove his point, the party has since been thrown into one of its biggest political crises in decades, with Bo Xilai , then party secretary of Chongqing and a powerful Politburo member, sacked for 'serious violations of party discipline', his wife implicated in the murder of a British businessman and his former police chief having fled to the US consulate in Chengdu before being arrested.