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Worth the Wait

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

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Earlier this week, I told you how my attempt to get into the National Aquatics Center, or Water Cube, last Saturday ended up in a ride with the police and a lesson that buying scalped tickets can lead to an afternoon of bureaucracy and boredom. But I never got around to relating Act 2, when I returned to the scene of the crime on Sunday.

Tickets for the synchronized swimming events only went on sale a couple of hours before each day's competition. I arrived at the Cube at 10:30 Sunday morning, and joined the 60 or so people who had already lined up to buy tickets. As the hours passed, the line stretched to at least 500 people—it was hard to get a count because everyone huddled under umbrellas and crowded together for some warmth on a chilly and rainy day.

Where I stood in line, people were taking the long and uncomfortable wait rather well. One woman, who said she had come out because her six-year-old son "loves swimming," said to me, "I was sure that there would be a long wait. Everybody is excited about participating in the Olympic games and this is the beginning. There is a difference between staying at home to watch on TV and getting into the stadium to see it with your own eyes."
Inside, time for some Olympic posing.
Inside, time for some Olympic posing.

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I asked Chen Dong, a car salesman from northern Hebei, if getting into the Water Cube was worth the trouble of waiting three hours in the rain, and he answered quickly, "This is no trouble." He had taken the train in just to see this event, and for a reason I couldn't quite understand, had to walk the last 30 kilometers to Beijing. "I'm a little sore," he said. "But ever since I knew China would host the Olympics, it has been my dream to come to Beijing. When the games start in August, I can't come because the hotels and the tickets will be too expensive."

The rain-soaked masses cheered when ticket sales commenced precisely at 1:00. Inside the Cube, it was a video-taping, photo-snapping frenzy, and the athletes put on a good show, with the British duo winning the duet free routine portion of the synchronized swimming test event.

Tags: Good Luck Beijing, synchronized swimming, Water Cube