China police throng Tiananmen ahead of Parliament
Huge red flags fluttered over the Soviet-style buildings on Friday as workers put the finishing touches to newly renovated monuments.
The square will be closed to the throngs of tourists who flock to the heart of the world's most populous nation for many days over the next two weeks.
Almost 15,000 police will be on patrol to maintain "social stability", and cars with non-Beijing number plates will need special permission to enter the city, state media reported.
Police were also encouraging those with no work or resident documents to leave Beijing, although they denied it was a clean-up campaign. They said they had set no targets for the number of people to be asked to leave the city.
"For undocumented people with no fixed income who have lived in the city for a long time, we will round them up and encourage them to return (home) to reduce threats to social order," said police spokesman Xu Hu, quoted by the Beijing News.
Police and stern-faced soldiers clad in their distinctive olive green uniforms patrolled Tiananmen Square, home to the monolithic Great Hall of the People where some 3,000 delegates are to meet.
Officers stationed at all the entrances to the square checked the identities and bags of many visitors, especially those who appeared to be from out of town.
Fire extinguishers stood ready at some guard posts, in case anyone tried to set themselves or anything else alight, which has been known to happen as the square is often a focus for protests.
In a side street off one end of the square, a line of police cars carrying plain clothes officers sat parked near a small office where people from all over China flock to present petitions.
Zhang Jianting, confined to a wheelchair since being knocked down by what he says was a government car 10 years ago, said police outside his home in the eastern province of Jiangsu had prevented him from traveling to Beijing to demand compensation.