Olympic Games

The press conference of the third phase of ticket sales for the 2008 Olympic Games was held in Beijing Olympic press centre at 10.00am in April23, 2008. Some policies which refer to the third phase of ticket sales for the 2008 Olympic Games will be announced, Zhu Yan, the director of the ticketing center for the Beijing Olympics, said in reports. The third phase of ticket sales for the 2008 Olympic Games will open from 9:00am May 5, 2008 to June 9, 2008, providing about 138,000 tickets to individual persons only, the Beijing Organizing Committee (BOCOG) said on the press conference.

Since last April, Nobody has had a chance to see the shape and format of the tickets of the Olympic Games, in the press conference held by the Beijing Organizing Committee (BOCOG), the tickets were unveiled.

Sample Tickets shape and format

Taking the "Cloud of Promise" as the core image, the Beijing Olympic ticket is designed to be a perfect combination of the traditional Chinese culture and the Olympic spirit. Technical details of the Olympic ticket, including the format and the information shown, are configured in strict conformity with the main themes of the Beijing Olympic Games – “Environment-friendly Olympics, Technology-empowered Olympics and Culture-enriched Olympics ". Fake tickets are easy to identify as genuine tickets carry an anti-fake chip (made in china). The Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tech has already been used in China's second-generation ID card, but this is the first time it has been applied to the ticket system of the Olympics. Information shown on the ticket of the Beijing Olympic Games is more comprehensive and easier to identify in comparison with that of previous Olympic Games.

Sale branches are reduced

Compared with the former two phases, the third phase of Beijing Olympic tickets will decrease to 540 sale branches. Sport Buyers can browse the ticket Website or call the ticket center (010-952008) to check the detail branches results. Ticket sales will run until June 9, 2008, via outlets of Bank of China, from June10 to June12, ticket printing services will be kept via Bank of China, Zhu Yan said. Sports fans in China can submit ticket orders through the official Website (www.tickets.beijing2008.cn) also with the same opening time of sales branches. While, ticket calling centre will take the burden off but offer the relevant consultation. According to a statement released by the BOCOG, The Bank of China outlets and website will contact every individual who registered with valid ID information and contact numbers. Further details are available at the official ticketing website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The purchase limit is two sessions per application and three tickets per session, after paid the former ticket, the next chance is available to act.

Real-time purchasing type

During this phase, the tickets will be sold on real-time basis no matter what channels are used. If the session and price is available, the system will keep the available tickets in regular time. If payment failed, the tickets will be released for the other applicants. Besides, in this phase, tickets for the people with disability and their companions will be sold in the manner of telephone reservation via the certain Ticketing customer service platform to check the authenticity.　

Total released tickets and the relevant matches

According to BOCOG, a total of 1.38 million Olympic tickets will be released during the 3rd phase. Tickets released cover 16 Olympic sports which are subdivided into 17 disciplines and 244 matches. They include: athletics, baseball, basketball, beach volleyball, boxing, canoe/kayak-flat water, mountain bike, equestrian, football, handball, hockey, modern pentathlon, rowing, softball, marathon swimming, volleyball and wrestling. In addition, tickets of accessible seats totally 20,000 will be offered for all matches involved.

With praise for the French president and appeals for calm, China’s leadership signaled Tuesday that it is ready to put an end to anti-France sentiment that has swept the country since the chaotic Olympic torch relay in Paris.

France and high-profile French retailer Carrefour have been singled out by Chinese nationalists who felt insulted by the raucous protests by pro-Tibetan groups and others during the torch run through the French capital.

Anger over the disruption, coupled with comments by French President Nicolas Sarkozy that he might boycott the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, swelled into demonstrations over the weekend at the French Embassy in Beijing and at Carrefour stores in nine Chinese cities.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Tuesday that the Carrefour demonstrations were “encouraging and touching,” but she added that “we do not agree with some people’s radical actions.”

“We also hope that the French side can respond positively to the aspirations of the Chinese people so that our bilateral relations can proceed smoothly and healthily,” the spokeswoman said.

The distinctly upbeat remarks marked a departure from the stern tone Jiang and other officials have adopted in recent weeks in responding to criticism of China’s crackdown on Tibetans and its treatment of dissidents.

Though protesters also disrupted torch relay runs in London and San Francisco, the Paris leg has been a lightning rod of criticism by Chinese.

The indignation stems in large part from widely circulated pictures of a pro-Tibetan protester in Paris trying to wrestle the torch from the grasp of a disabled Chinese fencer. The woman, Jin Jing, has been hailed by Chinese as a national hero _ the “smiling angel in a wheelchair.”

Seeking to calm Chinese anger, France’s president sent an emotional letter to “Mademoiselle Jin Jing,” praising her “remarkable courage” and extending an invitation to visit as his personal guest.

“This friendly move by President Sarkozy is appreciated by the Chinese people,” said Jiang, the ministry spokeswoman.

Beijing’s move to rein in the nationalist outburst follows a familiar pattern. Authorities used state media to order students back to class and put a quick end to previous protests, such as those that followed the 1999 NATO bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, Serbia, and the 2001 collision of a U.S. spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet.

The latest surge in nationalism has been accompanied by a backlash against Western media organizations, especially CNN, for what is perceived as biased reporting on the unrest in Tibet. Foreign journalists have received angry phone calls and e-mails, including some death threats.

Even amid the changed tone Tuesday, China stood firm on its hard line against the Dalai Lama, whose supporters have been accused by Beijing of directing deadly rioting that swept over Tibet’s capital, Lhasa, on March 14.

Jiang blasted the Paris city council’s action Monday to bestow the title of “honorary citizen” on the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader. However, in a step underlining Beijing’s desire to rein in anger, she did so only in a statement posted on the ministry’s Web site.

“This action wantonly interferes in China’s internal affairs, seriously harms the relations between China and France,” particularly ties between Paris and Beijing, the statement said.

The decision to honor the Dalai Lama will “only be considered as another insult against the 1.3 billion Chinese people, including Tibetans,” Jiang said.

Beijing has called the Lhasa riot and copycat protests in other Tibetan areas an attempt to split off China’s far western region and sabotage the Beijing Games.

As part of efforts to smooth relations, Sarkozy’s letter to Jin was personally delivered by French Senate President Christian Poncelet, who was also scheduled to meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao and several other top leaders.

Former Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin was to meet with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao this week, while Jean-David Levitte, Sarzoky’s top diplomatic envoy, was to hold consultations with senior foreign policy adviser Dai Bingguo.

In order to protest against France who attempted to politicize the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games by impeding the torch relay in Paris and even financing the brutal Tibet insurrectionists who had killed thousands of innocent Tibetans, Chinese people all over the world have stuck together and decided spontaneously to launch a boycott of French goods, namely a support to things made-in-china. One of the hottest resisting plans talked most frequently those days is to boycotting the internationally famous retailer, the French hypermarket Carrefour.

It stands to reason that Chinese people will resent and rebel against the inaccurate reports of the western media as well as their malicious intentions to support Dalai Lama so as to split China, especially when we are actually the victims worthy of sympathy, consolation and support. Whatever small power and influence it might bring about, boycotting French enterprises like Carrefour, as some Chinese people expected, is the most immediate and effective way that every single Chinese people could do to support the home made goods and resist the foreign products. Indeed, the national resentment and anger with a sense of being insulted might, to some extent be vented through this way. It is self evident that as a citizen of a sovereign country, every Chinese should contribute himself /herself if necessary to safeguarding and maintaining China’s unity and dignity.

However, we have overlooked the fact that to boycott trading is not a wise decision at all because it might lead to a worse trading relationship with foreign buyers. But China needs to maintain a steady relationship with foreign importers so as to keep the sensitive domestic economy stable, especially when the domestic food prices are increasing rapidly. As a matter of fact, China will benefit nothing from this seemingly patriotic campaign against the French hypermarket in view that most of the goods sold in Carrefour are domestic products and if we insist on launching the boycott, Chinese suppliers are the most likely to suffer huge financial losses. Besides, the majority workers in Carrefour are Chinese who barely make a living by those career opportunities Carrefour offered them. If Carrefour is boycotted, those Chinese employees will be out of work. What is worse, some ill-disposed nations may probably take advantage of our excessive enthusiasm and impulsive patriotism which do not bring China more sympathy than misunderstanding from the whole world. Only if Chinese people take a comprehensive approach to the issue and always keep cool to deal with the predicament rationally, will it be able to fulfill a successful counterattack.

Why not change the idea from boycotting foreign goods to supporting products made in china? Express patriotism calmly and soberly is much more an effective way to uphold national unity and dignity than to act impulsively or we are the one that will finally be blamed.

Article Source: http://www.madeinchina.com