The upcoming holiday at the beginning of October is a rare confluence of the October 1 National Day holiday and the Mid-Autumn Festival, which takes place on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar.

This year's National Day holiday has special significance as it is the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. The Mid-Autumn Festival, which typically falls in late September, will be celebrated on October 3 this year. Here's some of what is being done in preparation for the holiday:

Security ramped up through October 8
More than 1,000 military police will be patrolling Kunming for the next 19 days in order to "guarantee safety", according to a Xinhua report. An additional 3,000-plus police and 180 patrol cars will be dispatched to complement the paramilitary forces as security is beefed up prior to and during the October holidays.

Public gathering places will be under close watch and security checks will be carried out when necessary, the report said, adding that security forces would "strike hard against all types of criminal activities, frighten illegal criminal elements, strengthen the safe feeling of urban residents and create a safe, harmonious environment of public order."

Almost 97% of Kunming mooncakes up to standard
Municipal food safety inspectors announced on September 18 that 96.85 percent of the mooncakes on sale in Kunming meet safety standards, up from 90 percent last year, according to a Yunnan TV report. No information was provided about which companies' moon cakes were not up to standards.

Additional trains to serve Kunming routes during holiday
An additional 39 trains per day will connect Kunming with destinations around China during next month's eight-day holiday, according to a Xinhua report.

China's Ministry of Railways is predicting that approximately 64 million people will travel the country by train from September 28 through October 8, an increase of more than nine percent over the same period last year.

Image: Reuters via Yahoo

Travelers seeking to take advantage of the recent low air ticket prices for many domestic flights in China may want to consider arriving at the airport a little earlier than normal after July 20.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) announced yesterday that beginning July 20, travelers passing through more than 20 mainland airports will be subjected to an additional layer of security checks before boarding their flights.

In addition to security checks before entering airport waiting halls, there will also be new security checkpoints immediately prior to boarding.

Unsurprisingly, the official reasoning behind the tightening of airport security is Olympics-related. According to a China Daily report:

"The special measure is aimed at raising the security level at the airports and preventing anyone from carrying explosives, inflammables or other materials that can be used to disrupt the Beijing Olympic Games, the CAAC said."

"Suspects will have to go through thorough security checks, and people caught carrying such materials will be dealt with strictly in accordance with the law."

Airports which will implement the secondary security checkpoints include Beijing Capital International Airport, Shanghai's Pudong and Hongqiao airports, plus airports in Qingdao, Tianjin, Shenyang, Qinhuangdao, Shijiazhuang, Taiyuan, Jinan, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Hefei, Changchun, Harbin, Dalian and Hohhot.

Furthermore, all civilian airports in the restive regions of Tibet and Xinjiang will also add the new security checks.

Although Kunming Wujiaba International Airport is not on the list, it is quite likely that security will tighten noticeably in the runup to and during the Olympics.

Image: news.anhuinews.com

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With the Olympics around the corner, it appears to be becoming increasingly difficult to hold large events in China, especially events with an international flavor.

Beijing's popular Midi Festival, originally scheduled to be held May 1-4, was canceled in late April by the city's Public Security Bureau and is reportedly trying to reschedule a time after the Olympics. The music festival was to feature some international acts as well as attract an international audience.

Music festivals aren't the only events getting shut down – even anthropologists are being prevented from holding a conference in Kunming that was originally scheduled to take place in July.

The International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (IUAES), based at Leiden University in the Netherlands, has been notified by the Chinese organizers of the 16th IUAES World Congress that the event, originally scheduled to be held July 15-23, had been postponed.

A letter from the China Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (CUAES) posted on the IUAES website gives the official explanation for the decision to postpone the IUAES Congress in Kunming:

"…it is very regretful that CUAES has encountered complex difficulties hard to resolve in its preparation work recently, which makes impossible for us to hold the Congress at the time originally planned.

"Therefore, we propose to postpone the Congress to a later time, where details are undergoing close discussions and negotiations with IUAES. It is advised that all participants interested in the Congress suspend such efforts as processing visas, reserving hotels or booking tickets, and the like."

The Associated Press spoke with Zhang Jijiao, organizer and professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, who gave no reason for the postponement.

"We have postponed the July conference, but I am not at liberty to tell you the reason why," he said, adding that more than 6,500 people had registered to attend the event.

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With much of the city's traffic in disarray, travelers leaving Kunming via Kunming Wujiaba International Airport have needed to allow some extra time for their journey to the airport. Now that the airport has tightened security – especially with regards to liquids – it is advisable to give yourself even more time.

According to Kunming media reports more than 60 percent of passengers going through the airport's security check have had their bags searched recently. The increase in security at the airport – which previously had been quite lax – has reportedly led to many travelers missing their flights.

The recent tightening of security comes after Chinese media reported a foiled hijacking of an Urumqi-Beijing flight last week, which quickly and mysteriously disappeared from Chinese media.

On an unrelated note, Indian media is reporting that a China Eastern flight from Kolkata to Kunming this weekend had to dump its fuel and make an emergency landing when the plane's landing gear failed to retract after takeoff.

Police working at the Liangyuan police station Kunming's Xishan district have been fitted with cap-mounted video cameras as part of a trial program that if successful will be rolled out citywide, according to Kunming media reports.

According to an unnamed police source cited by a Chuncheng Wanbao report, police have had difficulty collecting evidence at the scene of "spontaneous mass incidents" (群体性突发事件).

The source said that the cameras – which also come with a hand-held LCD monitor and mobile hard drive – will help with evidence collection in such situations and also reduce the chances of attacks on police.

In addition to helping keep crowds orderly, the cameras are also expected to "normalize police behavior, guaranteeing accuracy and fairness in the handling of incidents."

Should the cap-mounted camera trial prove successful and be implemented citywide, Kunming will be quite well-covered by cameras. Over the last two months, several thousand video cameras mounted on blue and white poles have been installed throughout the city.


Images: www.clzg.cn