A standard room at high-end hotels such as the Hilton reportedly costs 6,000 yuan, plus a 15 percent service charge, for a day in August.

Even at budget hotels such as Super 8, a standard room costs 2,100 yuan a day, nearly eight times the normal price.

Though the prices are not higher than those of several former Olympic host cities, it is still said to be beyond many visitors' expectations for prices in China, a country seen as having impressed many foreigners with its cheap and affordable products.

Rindge Leaphart, an American who plans on coming to Beijing for the Olympics, told Urbane that he felt frustrated by the high costs in Beijing.

He called the hotel prices "a rip-off", and turned to the Internet to find a homestay for his trip. He finally reserved an apartment at $400 a day through Bos' website, believing it to be a bargain compared to hotels.

Close to 100 apartments offered by Dong Xiaoqing's services have also been reserved by Olympic visitors, Dong said.

Her clients include domestic and foreign visitors. But most are Chinese who believed that the price of 500 to 800 yuan per room per day in August was acceptable, she said.

Both Dong and Bos expect demand for such accommodation to pick up in the following months.

Cooke, the Canadian who could not find a homestay option in 2004, later started a website offering rent-free homestays.

His program, offered on www.Chinahomestay.org, arranges for foreigner visitors to put up with a Chinese family.

The scheme charges each visitor 640 euros ($1,016) for a four-week homestay with a Chinese family in August, which works out to about $34 a day.

The fee covers accommodation, free airport pickup and at least one meal a day. The homestaying visitor will live in a furnished room with Internet connection. The Chinese host is required to have at least one family member who can speak their guest's language.

Cooke said the program has attracted at least 175 foreigners.

Some say such homestay serves as a win-win situation, as Chinese families get the chance to practice English and make friends with people from different countries.

Cooke's program has also attracted more than 300 Chinese families applying as hosts.

Yuan Xiaoqing, 43, a former biochemical college teacher, has a 500-sq-m house in the northwestern corner of Beijing, with at least five spare rooms.

She will be hosting visitors during the Games under Cooke's scheme.

"I'm offering a homestay not just for the money. I want to have foreign friends who can better understand how Chinese people live and know about our culture," she said. "There are prejudices and biases that need to be removed through such communication."

(China Daily April 18, 2008)