Newspaper stands and street breakfast vendors have disappeared from some areas of the city, including Chang'an Avenue, the long road that passes Tiananmen Square, the main government offices and hotels where some delegates are staying.
Taxi drivers have been told to be wary of passengers sitting in the back seat to make sure they don't open the windows and throw out fliers, especially when driving along Chang'an Avenue, said a man in the main office of the Minhanganle taxi company who only gave his surname, Liu.
Chinese counterterrorism expert Li Wei said the gravest threats to Beijing's APEC meetings are extremists aiming to establish an independent state in the restive western region of Xinjiang.
Several deadly attacks targeting civilians have been blamed on extremists from Xinjiang's native Turkic Uighur population. Most were in western China, but in October of last year, three assailants drove an SUV through crowds in the heart of Beijing, killing themselves and two tourists.
Hotels have been asked to report to police any guests from Xinjiang as well as Tibet and its neighboring Qinghai province during APEC, said a manager at a Home Inns hotel in Beijing's Changping district. Tibetans have protested Chinese rule for decades, and since 2009, about 130 have died by setting themselves on fire in protest.
