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Central Beijing Off Limits as Army Rehearses for Anniversary Parade

Agence France-Presse

   BEIJING - The center of Beijing was under lockdown early Sunday for a
   nighttime parade rehearsal by the Chinese military, which is preparing
   for Oct. 1 ceremonies to mark Communist China's 70th anniversary.

   The enormous Avenue of Eternal Peace, which leads to Tiananmen Square
   and runs east-west, was closed to traffic for about a dozen kilometers
   (7 miles) to allow troops to parade around Tiananmen Square, the
   symbolic heart of Chinese power.

   It is where Mao Zedong in 1949 proclaimed the founding of the People's
   Republic of China.

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