China has stepped up security at one of Beijing's most sensitive locations, Tiananmen Square, just days ahead of the Olympics.
"All the tourists have to pass a security check before they enter the square," said Jia Yingting, from the square's management committee, according to the Xinhua news agency.
Jia said checkpoints were already established both in the underground passages and the ground entrances leading to the square.
"We will increase and improve the security check as the number of tourists keeps growing," Jia said.
The square's opening hours will be extended until midnight, a spokesman from the committee told AFP.
In the past, tourists could enter the main part of the square until around 9pm, although the closing hour was not fixed and depended on the number of visitors, said the spokesman.
The square was the location for weeks of pro-democracy demonstrations in 1989 which in a bloody crackdown that left hundreds and possibly thousands dead.
It is one of the most sensitive spots for China's communist authorities, and media organisations have been in a long-running dispute with Olympic organisers over whether they can broadcast from the landmark in the run-up to and during the Games.
The area always has a heavy police presence, as well as plenty of plain-clothes security officers, in an attempt to prevent protests.
Xinhua said tourists would only have limited access to the square on the morning of August 8, the day of the opening ceremony, because of cultural and sports activities being held there.
Transportation authorities will also place limits on traffic in various parts of the city on the day, it said.
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