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Serious About Scalping

Tuesday, 22nd April 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

I set out this Saturday to get my first look at the Water Cube. Instead, I got my first look at the inside of a Beijing police car and the bowels of the police station closest to most of the Olympic sites.

Here's what happened: I arrived with a few friends around 2:30 hoping to buy tickets to the 3:00 synchronized swimming test event. Thinking that the purchasing would go as smoothly as it did when I attended the water polo tournament a few weeks before, I figured that 30 minutes would be plenty of time to buy our tickets and get inside. But the event was sold out.

My well-meaning friend went in search of scalpers. He found one, and as soon as the money changed hands, three undercover cops swooped in to arrest the woman who sold them.

After spending the afternoon in the police station, I was a little giddy about getting out.
After spending the afternoon in the police station, I was a little giddy about getting out.
Now, as far as I can tell, ticket scalping is rampant in China. I have seen it done so openly that I thought it was perfectly legal. Just last week, I went to see a matinee at the new National Theater. The person at the official ticket desk said that she was sold out but I could buy tickets from one of the many men hawking them secondhand. But whatever arrangement exists between these entrepreneurs and the legit ticket outlets is apparently not going to exist for the Olympics or these Good Luck Beijing test events.

My friend did not get in trouble; buying these tickets is apparently not illegal, but selling marked-up tickets is. However, that doesn't mean the buyer just gets to walk away. My friend was compelled to go to the police station, show his resident card to the cops, give a report of what happened and sit there while the officer spent more than an hour writing a one-page report of the incident. His money was returned only after being photographed by the officer.

Altogether, the ordeal took more than two hours. If you are looking for creative ways to get into events this summer, be careful how you go about it.

Tags: Olympics, scalping, tickets

A Test Event for Cloud Seeding?

Tuesday, 22nd April 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

Sunday's April showers in Beijing
Sunday's April showers in Beijing
It is no secret that Beijing plans to use cloud seeding to control the weather before and during the Olympic period. It makes sense, then, that they would experiment with the technology ahead of the games to try to more precisely control rainfall.

With the National Stadium (a.k.a. the Bird's Nest) making its debut, hosting the race walking and marathon finishes; and with a European Tour golf tournament being played in Beijing, this past weekend would seem to be a perfect time to manipulate the weather a bit for some blue skies and more breathable air.

For those reasons, I thought the cloud-seeding powers that be would make it rain on us last Thursday or Friday, cleaning out the air and leaving the weekend skies ready to be photographed for stories in the Los Angeles Times and the International Herald-Tribune. Instead, there was no rain late last week and Saturday was a particularly dirty day in the capital, one where a walk around the block makes you want a shower. Rain clouds gathered Saturday night. It poured all day Sunday and much of Monday, slickening the marathon route and forcing golfers at the Volvo China Open to play in pretty tough conditions. The April showers also meant that the poor souls who waited three hours to buy tickets to see the synchronized swimming event in the Water Cube did so huddled under umbrellas with water seeping into their shoes.

It all begs the question: Was this past weekend also a test event for cloud seeding or just an unfortunate weather coincidence?

Tags: cloud seeding, Good Luck Beijing