Sales of the second batch of Olympic tickets were suspended last night after overwhelming demand caused chaos during the day: the booking system crashed, phone lines were jammed and serpentine queues formed at banks.
An official from the BOCOG Ticketing Center said last night that the Games organizers had decided to temporarily halt domestic ticket sales to improve the technical plan and will announce new ticketing information on November 5.
"Because of the overwhelming volume of page visits, the technical system was unable to perform the tasks properly, and many applicants were unable to successfully submit their applications," the official said, adding: "We sincerely apologize to the public."
The first-come-first-serve scheme had 1.85 million tickets on sale through the booking website, a hotline and designated branches of Bank of China.
But demand was much higher than organizers anticipated: According to the Beijing Olympic Ticketing Center, the official ticketing website had 8 million hits in the first hour starting at 9 am, while the ticketing hotline received 3.8 million calls.
Only about 9,000 tickets were sold in two hours; and the ticketing center confirmed that successful orders will be valid.
A total of 7 million tickets are available for the Games, with about 75 percent reserved for domestic sale. The first 1.6 million tickets were allocated after a lottery earlier this year. The third phase - from April to August next year - will also sell tickets on a first-come-first-serve basis.
Wu Chao was an intrepid fan who wouldn't give up.
"I visited the ticketing website at 9 am sharp but couldn't place an order," said the 29-year-old IT manager in Beijing. "Then the system crashed, and I couldn't log onto it anymore."
Wu then decided to try his luck with the ticketing hotline.
"I used two phones at the same time and kept calling for almost half an hour," he told China Daily. But when he finally got through, the operator told him that they were using the same ticketing system and their system had crashed, too.
"My coworkers and I have been trying all day. I will not give up."
Some companies even encouraged their employees to turn ticket buying into a team building activity.
The human resource department of an IT company sent a group email the day before yesterday, asking all staff to buy tickets online.
"We all showed up in the office before 9 am and tried to get tickets," said Ma Mei, one of the employees. "We helped each other and exchanged the latest information, it was a lot of fun."
Going to Bank of China branches was another way to get tickets, but fortune favored only a few early birds.
Mu Di, who waited outside the Bank of China headquarters from 2:30 am, finally got two tickets for the men's tennis singles and men's 100m hurdles final.
Most who waited in long queues at the 1,000 BOC branches were not as lucky.
Questions:
1. What is the total number of tickets available for the Games?
2. Name the three ways the Chinese tried to buy Olympics tickets.
3. When will the next batch of tickets go on sale?
Answers:
1. 7 million.
2. Online, telephone or go to a designated Bank of China branch.
3. From April to August next year.
(英語點津 Linda 編輯)
About the broadcaster:
Bernice Chan is a foreign expert at China Daily Website. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Bernice has written for newspapers and magazines in Hong Kong and most recently worked as a broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, producing current affairs shows and documentaries.