Confusion over what loving China really means

In the context of Chinese patriotism, how, exactly, is one to 'love China'? Truly, I would like to assist my spouse to contribute to the motherland, but I'm not quite sure how.

Are we being told to love the Chinese Government? Given the overwhelming number of Hong Kong families who fled the communist regime, it seems unlikely to expect them to 'love China', represented in the form of various government officials.

Are we being told to love all the Chinese people living in the People's Republic? Are these the same people who tortured, killed, looted and destroyed so many lives and properties during the Cultural Revolution, causing hundreds of thousands to flee to safety in Hong Kong? On the other hand, most Chinese people will love their relatives on the mainland - but that doesn't seem to meet the 'love China' criteria.

Are we being told to love the Chinese countryside - the mountains, lakes and skies - and its customs? That seems a little more like it. I can imagine people getting quite homesick, a patriot's disease, for some of China's dramatic landscapes, festivals and home-cooked food.

Surely a true patriot would pine for the motherland - no matter who was in political power.

Perhaps a Chinese reader, a member of the Preparatory Committee for example, might care to explain the yardstick of 'loving China'.