ID :
13832
Fri, 07/25/2008 - 20:55
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/13832
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Scuffles as thousands queue for last Beijing Olympics tickets
BEIJING, July 25 Kyodo - Tens of thousands of people queued outside sports stadiums in Beijing on Friday for the last chance to buy Olympics tickets, with scuffles breaking out at the games' main venue.
Some had been camping out since Wednesday for the opportunity to watch sports events at the Games, which start Aug. 8.
There was a large security presence outside the National Stadium, nicknamed the Bird's Nest, with about 30,000 people waiting in line in the summer heat early in the day to buy athletics tickets.
A BBC reporter at the venue said that police had to call in reinforcements to hold back surging crowds and there was some pushing and shoving, but queuing outside the stadium was generally orderly.
The Associated Press reported that scuffles broke out when crowds surged toward additional sales windows opened at the stadium to cope with the demand for tickets.
The official Xinhua News Agency also reported that a journalist from the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong was arrested for allegedly assaulting a police officer after climbing over a crowd control barrier to take photographs.
The long queues were repeated at venues around the Chinese capital, with sports fans sleeping on mats or folding chairs overnight as they waited for the ticket offices to open between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Friday.
One woman waiting outside the Workers' Stadium, which will host some soccer matches, said she started lining up Thursday evening.
Zhang Yan, 34, an accountant, said, ''I am buying the tickets for me and my boyfriend. The fact that it is soccer is not so important. We just want to see some of the sports during the Olympics.''About 820,000 tickets went on sale Friday. Nearly 7 million tickets have been issued for the Olympics, with about three-quarters of them sold or distributed in China.
State media have reported that 60 people have been arrested in Beijing in recent weeks for allegedly scalping tickets.
One suspected scalper is accused of trying to sell tickets for the China-U.S. basketball match for 5,000 yuan (about $733), 100 times its original price.
Olympic organizers in Beijing say demand for tickets has been massive, although tourism officials have admitted that the number of tourists visiting the Chinese capital has been lower than hoped.
Figures released by the Beijing Tourism Administration this week show that only 45 percent of beds in the city's four-star hotels are booked for the Olympics, although bookings for five-star hotels are higher.
The tourism authority's director, Zhang Huigang, on Friday dismissed suggestions that bookings are down because of tighter visa restrictions and the massive antiterrorism security measures put in place in Beijing in recent weeks.
''I think people may have been concerned that there would be no beds available. We do have beds and we welcome foreign guests to Beijing,'' she told Kyodo News.
Beijing tourism officials previously reported that three- and four-star hotels have had to drop room rates in recent months to attract more business.
Some had been camping out since Wednesday for the opportunity to watch sports events at the Games, which start Aug. 8.
There was a large security presence outside the National Stadium, nicknamed the Bird's Nest, with about 30,000 people waiting in line in the summer heat early in the day to buy athletics tickets.
A BBC reporter at the venue said that police had to call in reinforcements to hold back surging crowds and there was some pushing and shoving, but queuing outside the stadium was generally orderly.
The Associated Press reported that scuffles broke out when crowds surged toward additional sales windows opened at the stadium to cope with the demand for tickets.
The official Xinhua News Agency also reported that a journalist from the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong was arrested for allegedly assaulting a police officer after climbing over a crowd control barrier to take photographs.
The long queues were repeated at venues around the Chinese capital, with sports fans sleeping on mats or folding chairs overnight as they waited for the ticket offices to open between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Friday.
One woman waiting outside the Workers' Stadium, which will host some soccer matches, said she started lining up Thursday evening.
Zhang Yan, 34, an accountant, said, ''I am buying the tickets for me and my boyfriend. The fact that it is soccer is not so important. We just want to see some of the sports during the Olympics.''About 820,000 tickets went on sale Friday. Nearly 7 million tickets have been issued for the Olympics, with about three-quarters of them sold or distributed in China.
State media have reported that 60 people have been arrested in Beijing in recent weeks for allegedly scalping tickets.
One suspected scalper is accused of trying to sell tickets for the China-U.S. basketball match for 5,000 yuan (about $733), 100 times its original price.
Olympic organizers in Beijing say demand for tickets has been massive, although tourism officials have admitted that the number of tourists visiting the Chinese capital has been lower than hoped.
Figures released by the Beijing Tourism Administration this week show that only 45 percent of beds in the city's four-star hotels are booked for the Olympics, although bookings for five-star hotels are higher.
The tourism authority's director, Zhang Huigang, on Friday dismissed suggestions that bookings are down because of tighter visa restrictions and the massive antiterrorism security measures put in place in Beijing in recent weeks.
''I think people may have been concerned that there would be no beds available. We do have beds and we welcome foreign guests to Beijing,'' she told Kyodo News.
Beijing tourism officials previously reported that three- and four-star hotels have had to drop room rates in recent months to attract more business.
