Beijing began tightening security on subways with the introduction of checks for flammable and explosive goods on Friday.
The move follows the installation of X-ray machines and sniffer dogs to check commuters' luggage for dangerous items.
At Dongzhimen Subway Station, workers carrying construction tools were asked by policeman Zhang Yongpeng to show their ID cards and remain at the station while he conducted an information check.
One of the builders, Liao Xiaoyong, said he understood the need for tighter security such as that provided by an X-ray machine installed near a ticket window.
Yuan Jing, another worker, said passengers carrying bottled drinks were being asked to take a swig to prove they weren't banned liquids like petrol and other inflammables.
According to the Beijing municipal public security bureau, a hotline (64011327) has been set up for the public to report anyone carrying dangerous goods.
From January to April, the public transportation department of the bureau had seized nearly 2,000 banned items, 600 of which were flammable and potentially explosive, Beijing Times reported.
The checks come after several big subway fires abroad were, according to the bureau, sparked by flammable goods.
Under the Law on Public Security Administrative Penalties, those who take flammable or explosive goods onto buses or subways can be detained between five and 15 days.
The bureau will fully perform its duty to implement the law, according to the newspaper.
Police dogs also began patrolling other major subway stations on Friday.
"His name is Naonao, a Belgium Collie, which can smell banned substances on a targeted person if I give him the order," said the dog's handler, Huang Zhengwei, at Dongzhimen.
Huang said dogs would patrol all stations as the Olympic Games approaches.
Source: China Daily</I>
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