Beijing has mobilized thousands of policemen and street cleaners, and added temporary toilets and ticket boxes at parks as throngs of people flooded into the city centre for the week-long holiday.

Starting from Sunday, National Day, China entered its "Golden Week" of seven-day-long holidays, marking the 57th anniversary of the founding of New China, as well as the Mid-Autumn Festival on October 6.

On Sunday, about 220,000 people watched the flag raising ceremony at 6:10 am.

But Tian'anmen Square was flooded with people shortly after midnight.

Everyone went through security checks at temporary checkpoints that had been set up at all the entrances leading to the square and equipped with security personnel and sniffer dogs.

Nearly every cellphone subscriber received a text message when they set foot on the square in the wee hours to watch the raising of the Chinese national flag.

"Welcome to the flag raising ceremony," read the message sent by the Tian'anmen Branch of Beijing's Public Security Bureau. "Please follow the instructions of the policemen and go through a security check before you enter the square."

Many tourists said the message was a special keepsake they would not delete.

On Sunday, nearly 2,000 emergency notices were broadcast over loudspeakers at Tian'anmen Square, looking for people, particularly children, who had got lost in the crowd.

"In the busiest hours, a child was reported missing nearly every two or three minutes," said a policewoman who declined to be named.

"Parents then completed forms, describing their child's features. We broadcast the notice until the child was found."

The Tian'anmen branch of the Beijing Public Security Bureau has sent two vans to the square to provide a lost-and-found service.

To make traffic smoother, police have taken control of the roads around the square.

Over 3,000 more policemen were patrolling Beijing's streets to seize unregistered pedicabs that often carry passengers at lower costs but higher risks. Police have also stepped up safety measures in local shopping centers.

Sunday was the peak of the seven-day celebrations and 360,000 people visited Beijing's major parks, up 8 percent from last year.

The Palace Museum, or the Forbidden City, received 59,400 visitors, outnumbering all other tourist destinations in Beijing but down by 11 percent from last year as a result of more sophisticated security checks this year having turned many away.

Major parks in Beijing had a smooth day on Sunday as more ticket boxes, temporary toilets and cleaners were added.

Wedding cars decorated with flowers could be found in many streets of Beijing yesterday.

It was estimated that there were more than 20,000 weddings being held or to be held in Beijing around the holidays, according to the China Committee of Wedding Service Industries.

About one-third of the new couples in Beijing choose to tie knot during the National Day holiday, the committee said.

Some wedding service companies handle more than 20 wedding ceremonies a day.

Since the wedding cars are in short supply, some companies have to dispatch cars from the nearby city of Tianjin.

For restaurants, wedding banquets are the main business during the holidays. Some people even reserved tables half a year in advance.

(China Daily October 3, 2006)