The Chinese National Games: Olympic deja vu
Friday, 30th October 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Even the smog looks familiar. Jinan Olympic Stadium, October 2009
White elephants
A perfectly fine stadium sat mostly unused in a downtown location, while much of the competition took place in an Olympic Green-style setting on the outskirts. There a brand new tennis stadium, gymnasium, natatorium and the Games' showpiece—the 60,000-seat Jinan Olympic Stadium (pictured below)—played host to competition.
Considering that the Bird's Nest has hosted three events in the 14 months since the games (a martial arts show, an Italian soccer/football game, and a production of the Italian opera Turandot), odds are not good that Jinan's stadium will be pulling in revenue any time soon. Also facing a bleak future is the 445-room Sheraton Jinan Hotel, which opened across the street in September. It's a great location if you're in town for an unlikely sports event at Jinan Olympic Center—terrible if you have business downtown.
Empty seats
The National Games dominated the national sports television channel, CCTV5, for the duration of the competition. And if you watched track and field events on TV, you would have heard a roaring crowd in the stadium. But the stadium was actually only 10 percent full when I was there, and the crowd noise was played over the loudspeakers. Filling seats was a problem at the Olympics, too, even though everything was officially sold out.
Beijing 2008:
China vs. Angola, Beijing Olympics, August 2008 (basketball, Wukesong Arena)
Jinan 2009:
Jinan Olympic Stadium, October 2009
Ticket design: Where have I seen that before?
Beijing 2008 athletics ticket:
Shandong 2009 athletics ticket:
Awesome volunteers
Beijing set a new standard for Olympic volunteers, in terms of both numbers and attitude. Jinan's volunteers were just as patient and enthusiastic, whether helping spectators find the right entrance or raking the sand between innings at the baseball games. And I didn't do a study, but ran into a surprising number who spoke English well.
Paranoia
In Beijing, it was protests and terrorism. But in Jinan organizers focused on another threat—they weren't taking any chances that the 50 spectators inside the stadium would set off a swine flu outbreak. Health workers checked the temperature of everyone who entered the stadium.
Exploding lunch boxes
The concessions lacked that undisputed highlight of the Olympics—5 RMB cans of Tsing Tao beer. But they did have the self-heating lunch boxes that were available at some Beijing venues (watch Wall Street Journal China correspondent Sky Canaves' demo here).
Familiar Font
Signage at the 2008 Olympics, Beijing:
Signage at the 2009 Chinese National Games, Jinan:
Tags: 2008 Beijing Olympics, Jinan, National games, Olympics, Shandong, ticketing, venues
Buying scalped Olympic tickets
Wednesday, 20th August 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Despite saying that scalping would not be tolerated at these games, the Beijing police seem to be turning a blind eye to the practice, which is common in China. At every event I have been to, I've seen active and obvious transactions going on, with uniformed cops standing mere feet away. It's a far cry from the undercover sting bust I experienced in the spring at an Olympic test event. It's a good thing the powers that be have decided to let it go, because keeping the venues full seems a big enough problem as it is.How best to game the scalping? Blogger Ben Ross, currently in Beijing, has a good breakdown of how the system works and how best to make it work for you.
Tags: Beijing Olympics, Olympics, scalping, ticketing