Why is Beijing opening up bomb shelters?

China's nuclear drill, perhaps?

The Chinese government made a high-profile public announcement that bomb shelters in central Chongqing would be opened to the public to allow residents to cool off during a heat wave in which temperatures are reaching into the 90s.

In an apparent move to provide relief from summer heat, China's decision to open up 24 massive, cool, underground air raid shelters to the public, has U.S. intelligence analysts concerned about a possible strategic deception.

The bomb shelters, most of them built in the 1960's and 1970's, covered an area estimated to be more 17.3 acres, and could accommodate tens of thousands of people.

Some specialists knowledgeable about nuclear arms think that opening up large fallout shelters to the public on a regular basis could serve a couple of strategic purposes for the Chinese government.

1. It would familiarize the Chinese people to the shelters, making it easier to evacuate the public in times of potential nuclear attack;
2. It would confuse Western intelligence analysts who monitor movements of the Chinese public by satellite as evidence of the government's intentions;

U.S. national security officials keep an eye on large scale public movements in other countries, and if such massive movements became routine because shelters are opened up in the heat of summer and in the cold of winter to provide shelters from the elements, then such movements would more likely be disregarded as militarily insignificant rather than a sign the government might be preparing for an attack of some kind.