Beijing shuts down ahead of National Day

BEIJING (AFP) - China launched a massive shutdown of bustling central Beijing Wednesday on the eve of a spectacular celebration of 60 years of Communist rule, with authorities determined to leave nothing to chance.
The Forbidden City and other key landmarks around the Chinese capitals Tiananmen Square were closed and city residents hurried to tie up loose ends at work before a wide swathe of the capital was completely blocked off.
At least 100,000 people will take part Thursday (today) in National Day festivities centred on the square that will laud Chinas emergence - under Communist Party leadership - as a world economic, military and political power.
Spearheading the gala will be a morning military parade with some of the latest-generation home-grown weaponry, in what experts say will be a statement to the world that China must be taken seriously.
Amid unrest in ethnic minority regions like Xinjiang and Tibet, authorities have imposed some of the tightest security in the capitals history in recent weeks - and the controls were ratcheted up on Wednesday.
Major roads including the parade route on the Avenue of Eternal Peace - Beijings central thoroughfare - and parts of the subway system were to be shut down later in the day.
People should finish up early and go home or they might encounter problems. Thats what we are telling pedestrians, said Xiao Matian, a volunteer traffic guard.
A heightened security presence could be seen along the parade route, with police on patrol, some approaches to the avenue sealed off with police tape and many of an estimated 800,000 red-sashed security volunteers out in force.
China typically holds grand celebrations every 10 years to commemorate revolutionary leader Mao Zedongs October 1, 1949 proclamation of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China.
Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun told journalists the event would showcase a China which has strong confidence in its future. But authorities have gone to extreme lengths to ensure that nothing goes wrong this year - even banning the flying of pigeons and kites, and declaring war on pests at Tiananmen Square, where a new portrait of Mao has been hung.
The high security is expected to render Thursdays gala a made-for-TV event for the vast majority of Beijing citizens.
Police suggest that Beijing residents try not to go out on October 1 to avoid complications. They recommend the public watch the celebrations live on TV, the state-run China Daily newspaper said.
Major hotels near Tiananmen Square told AFP they had stopped accepting foreign guests, in line with a government order, and residents living on the parade route have been ordered to stay off balconies and keep windows shut.
Meanwhile, Beijings airport would suspend flights for three hours during the parade, apparently to clear the skies for a flyover of dozens of military aircraft.