Go to the Beijing Olympics in 2008

We’re planning our summer 2008 trip to the Beijing Olympics and have one major obstacle to get around. Tickets. sigh We aren’t sure how difficult it’s going to be to get tickets.

We’ve been checking online every day because we were told that tickets go on sale in early 2007. Then, we found out that tickets will be on sale at the beginning of April on the day that we are leaving for our three month trip around SE Asia!

So, the waiting game has begun. Yesterday, we spent hours going through a lengthy process of picking events and reserving tickets. We can only reserve 48 tickets to events, which might seem like a lot, but given the amount of tickets available to the general public, I think we’re going to be really lucky if we get into one event!

From what we’ve heard, ticket prices are being kept down to allow Chinese nationals to attend. This is great news. However, the number of tickets that will be made available to the rest of the world will be quite low, when you add in the number of Chinese citizens that want to attend the 2008 Olympics. 1,500,000 domestic travelers are expected to attend the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. We have heard that they are expecting half of that amount in overseas travelers. We aren’t sure what to expect, but we’re doing our very best to ensure that we get tickets to at least one event.

As I was “stumbling” tonight, I came upon a website that featured some of the stadium designs that were being considered for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. I couldn’t resist, I just had to share. I spent over three years in Northeast China and often traveled to Beijing on vacation and long weekends. It’s a wonderful city and I was there when they won the bid for the Olympics. I thought that several of the designs reflected the beauty, charm and enduring tenacity of China and her people. However, it was this design, known as, “The Bird’s Nest” which beat out 12 other designs and won the title as Olympic Stadium for the 2008 Olympics. Construction started in the spring of 2004 and it is estimated that it will cost up to 3.5 billion yuan. I have no idea how they are going to achieve this but I can’t wait to see what it looks like when it’s finished.