Beijing Olympic tickets go on sale in Hong Kong

It’s official, tickets for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Summer Games go on sale from June 5th in Hong Kong, according to the China Travel Service, the official ticketing agent of the Beijing Olympic Games. A 3-phase ticketing sales operation is in place with 7 million affordable tickets on sale now. 75%  of tickets are to sold domestically and the rest will be available to overseas  buyers. Prices start from $200 rising to $5000 and the rush will be for tickets to the Opening and Closing ceremonies to be held at the incredible Beijing National Stadium. This hotly awaited designer piece of architectural is currently under construction along with all other Olympic Venues as confirmed last week by the Beijing Olympic Committee.

A mesh of interwoven structural elements have lead to it becoming known as the ‘Bird’s Nest’, it will be the main venue for track and field events and is designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architects Herzog & de Meuron. The 100,000 seater stadium covers 250,000 square metres and is wrapped in 36 km of steel. Herzog & de Meuron are renowned for their creation of unique landmarks having designed such edifice masterpieces as the Tate Modern art gallery in London and the Allianz Arena football stadium in Munich, used as a FIFA World Cup Stadium during the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

China is expected to benefit hugely from the 2008 Summer Olympics Games which will provide it with probably the best opportunity to showcase China, Chinese culture and its capability to host such a world class event to an international audience. Chinese property investment into key venue cities such as capital Beijing and Shanghai has reached an all-time high to the extend that the Chinese Government has introduced stringent restrictions to limit foreign speculative real estate investment within the country in an attempt to curb rocketing real estate prices. The 2008 Summer Olympics offers the West a glimpse into a country about which much remains unknown but is causing huge speculation as China takes international economic markets by storm.