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Lessons from Good Luck Beijing's Big Week

Friday, 25th April 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

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Over the last week, running from venue to venue to catch sporting events at their Olympic sites, China Sports Today learned a few useful lessons. Here are our observations:

Ticketing Tips
Ticketing has been different at each venue for the Good Luck Beijing events. Some of the on-site box offices sell advance tickets, and others do not. The cute little "Tickets" link on each of the competitions' Good Luck Beijing home pages invariably doesn't work. When it's available, the best option for buying tickets is Emma Ticketmaster, which allows you to order tickets for delivery or pick-up. It also often has more complete practical information than the Good Luck site.

Under Construction
The venues themselves are pretty much ready to go, but the area that will be the focal of the games is still very much under construction. This means that spectators should allow extra time for getting to the venues, as access to the National Stadium, National Aquatics Center and surrounding venues is still confusing and inconvenient.

Is This Seat Taken?
The Good Luck Beijing events generally offer three different pricing categories for tickets. The strategy among locals seems to be to buy the cheapest category and then move up as close to the action as possible. This has caused some awkward moments as foreigners walk in with their tickets and are surprised when their exact seat needs to be cleared. If you are buying a ticket to upcoming events, keep this in mind.

Big BOCOG is Watching
At both the Workers' Stadium and the Fencing Hall, I received text messages from Good Luck Beijing upon enterin. The messages welcomed me to the stadium, informed me that I couldn't smoke and urged me to direct any questions to the volunteers. I hadn't given my phone number to anyone, and perhaps in my heightened American sense of privacy, was ever so slightly unnerved that I had been pinged.

Making Concessions
There is good news and bad news about the snacks sold at these events. The good news is that, unlike at sporting events I have been to in other countries, there is practically no markup on the snacks. A bottle of Coke or tea is three yuan, a large Snickers bar four yuan. The bad news is that the selection is small and not very appealing—Chinese style hot dogs, microwave popcorn, potato chips and the aforementioned Snickers.

Tags: Good Luck Beijing

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