Pigeons beware, Beijing certainly a no fly zone

• Source: Global Times
• [16:41 September 16 2009]
• Comments

By Xuyang Jingjing

Beijing will clear the sky of any flying objects, including balloons, paragliders, model planes and birds, to ensure safety for the National Day parade and celebration.

The Municipal Tourism Bureau issued a notice earlier this month, banning all organized or individual flying activities for sport, tourism or other recreational purposes within a 200 km radius of Tian'anmen Square from September 15 to October 8.

Besides the regular restrictions on small aircraft, the police said that pigeons and kites were also banned until October 2. Kites are forbidden within the West Fourth Ring and East Sixth Ring roads.

At the airport serving as the base for fighter planes, a special group of soldiers have trained 14 falcons to scare away other birds before each drill in order to keep the sky safe for pilots.

Balloons are not allowed in any promotions, weddings or other celebratory activities. Chengguan (urban law enforcers) will regulate unlicensed vendors, especially those selling balloons and kites on the streets. The police have asked citizens to report any suspicious flying objects or anybody trying to fly small aircrafts.

"We received notice on September 5, banning recreational flying for one month," said Sam Chi, manager of customer service at the Beijing Flying-man Club on Mangshan Mountain, a gliding base in the northern suburbs.

He said their club informed members in a post on their online community. "We also explain this ban to everyone who phones in concerning classes or activities," said Sam.

"We don't have a problem with this. We'll just rest, travel or something," said Levent Yourday, a Turkish coach who's been in this club for five years. Australia and the US had similar bans during their Olympic ceremonies, but the ban didn't affect as large an area.

"I heard that flying is also banned in neighboring provinces like Hebei, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia," Levent told the Global Times.

Recreational flying is banned every year during National Day and during the government conferences in spring. This ten-year-old club includes about 1,000 members who are fans of paragliding or personal flying vehicles such air scooters. "We have maybe seven or eight foreign members every year," said Levent. "Of course the club will be affected, but not a great deal."

Tourism sites such as Mangshan Mountain were required to lock their flying objects in storage.