China is locking tourists in their Beijing hotels for military parade rehearsals

People staying near Beijing’s Tiananmen Square are being forced to remain inside their hotels for two 12-hour stretches this weekend so the Chinese military can practice for an upcoming parade that will celebrate seven decades of Communist rule. “Thank you for choosing Grand Hyatt Beijing at Oriental Plaza for your upcoming visit to the capital,” reads an email sent to travel blogger Sebastian Powell, who posted the text of the message online. It goes on to explain, “We understand that access to the hotel is likely to be partially or entirely restricted and foresee that traffic may also be affected.” But the words “likely,” “partially,” and “may” are doing a lot of heavy lifting here—the rehearsals have been going on since the beginning of September, and not only have hotels been completely locked down each weekend, but access to offices and apartments with views of the Avenue of Eternal Peace, which leads to Tiananmen Square, has been blocked, as well.