China’s spring-travel period opened this week with a highly visible deployment of People’s Armed Police (PAP) units across major transport hubs. A photo feature released by state media shows PAP detachments on patrol, positioned at stations and airports, and assisting passengers with services ranging from crowd control to handing out hot ginger tea.
Images from Beijing South Station, Guiyang Longdongbao International Airport, Shangri‑La (Diqing) Airport, Yibin West Station, Tianjin South Station and a rural transport point in Baise, Guangxi depict officers directing flows, conducting patrols and working alongside volunteers. The scenes emphasize both traditional policing duties — fixed-point guard and patrols — and a more service-oriented role in which personnel help passengers navigate busy terminals and receive food and warm drinks.
The timing matters. China’s Chunyun period is the world’s largest annual human migration and a stress test for transport networks and public order. After several years of disruption and recovery, authorities are preparing for sustained high passenger volumes; visible security deployments are meant to prevent accidents, deter crime and reassure travelers that the state is managing the pressures of mass movement.
The images also reflect institutional shifts in how Beijing projects internal security. Since the late 2010s the PAP has been professionalized and placed more firmly under the Central Military Commission’s remit, and its increasing presence in civilian spaces serves dual purposes: practical crowd management and a public demonstration of state capacity. Framing officers as helpers as well as guardians broadens popular legitimacy while reinforcing the state’s monopoly on organized coercion.
For international observers the photographs are a reminder of how the Chinese state manages everyday governance challenges. The deployment is simultaneously routine — a seasonal mobilisation to keep trains and planes running — and political: it signals that maintaining social order during mass movements remains a priority, and that Beijing will use disciplined security forces to manage large-scale civilian flows when necessary.