Teams ensure Tian'anmen lights will work for holiday

For nearly six decades, teams of electricians have spent months in the run-up to National Day on Oct 1 testing and cleaning the many decorative streetlights that dot Beijing's iconic Tian'anmen Square and Chang'an Avenue.

The summer months are often grueling, but the team is taking extra precautions to protect themselves against the heat hitting the capital this summer. Temperatures last week soared as high as 38 C.

"Work is mostly carried out in the daytime, when the lights are off, to avoid peak traffic," said Li Xiaohui, director of the Beijing Lighting Management Center, which has been organizing the cleanup job for 57 years. "This means workers are out there from 10 am to 4 pm, the hottest part of the day."