Of Rehearsals and Security

Last July 29, the National Stadium hosted the second dress rehearsal for the Opening Ceremonies. It was gloomy, windy and smelled like it’s gonna rain. I took the subway from my office to the Bird’s Nest via line 10. As it was my first time to ride this line to the Bird’s Nest, I wasn’t as confident as usual. The hallway which connects line 10 to line 8 was barricaded and questions to volunteers lead me to a path outside. Once I exited C1, I was out on the road with no signs whatsoever which had me confused. Line 8 at present is only used by staff and volunteers connected to the Olympics. I had to go through security as if I was in the airport. Once that was completed, I had to go back down to the station again and ride line 8.

Anyway, the stop I was supposed to get off to was close so I had to get off the next stop. When I got off, I was amazed by my surroundings. It was totally different and beautiful. The serenity and the quaintness of my surroundings was worth the long walk back to the Bird’s Nest.

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House Rules During Olympic Matches

The Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee recently posted on their website the house rules for spectators when watching Olympic matches.   I suggest you print it out as sometimes they might have their own rules which are unreasonable and you have something to disprove them.

I remember attending one of the Good Luck Beijing games and I had some paracetamol with me.  They informed me that I can’t bring it in.   As I was in a hurry, I just let it be.   This time, I’ll come prepared and print myself a copy of the house rules.

The House Rules are as follow:

Last Chance to Grab Your Olympic Tickets

The Phase 4 of the Beijing Olympic ticket general public sales will start tomorrow, July 25. A total of 820,000 tickets will be sold to the public of which 250,000 are for sports events to be held in Beijing.

Ticket sales will start from July 25, 9am to 6pm until the tickets are sold out. Each person can only purchase a maximum of 2 tickets for one event. They also put a cap on how many tickets will be sold daily and for which events. No English list yet out there.

Ticket buyers can proceed to the respective venues ticket office except for the events in the Bird’s Nest, Water Cube, National Indoor Stadium, Fencing Hall and Wukesong Baseball Field. These tickets will be sold at the main box office in Beitucheng Road. Payment method is either cash or VISA credit card. Invoices can also be issued, if needed. For more information, visit the ticketing website at http://www.tickets.beijing2008.cn/?lang=en-cn

So.. what are you waiting for? You sure won’t see me there! Hehehe.. I already have a bunch of tickets which I won from Phase 1 to 3. See you at the Games!

3 New Beijing Subway Lines!

Three new Beijing subway lines are set to open this weekend in time for the Olympics. These lines have long been awaited by the public as they were supposed to open last month.