As Beijing is busy preparing for tomorrow’s opening of the 18th Communist Party Congress, the city is under such tight security measures that many netizens have begun to refer to it as “Sparta” (a homonym for the Congress). The photo below, circulating on weibo, shows police searching for explosives in Tiananmen Square.
At the same time, the government is also busy promoting the Congress, the Party and excitement over the political event, which common citizens cannot witness nor participate in. CDT Chinese has collected a number of images of government propaganda efforts aimed at “Welcoming the 18th Party Congress”:
On Twitter, @WenTommy summed up the different atmospheres in New York after the election of Obama and in Beijing in the run-up to its own leadership transition:
Times Square 在 party,Tiananmen Square 在 Party.
— 文涛 (@wentommy) November 7, 2012
Times Square is at a party; Tiananmen Square is at a Party.
