The Olympic Green will be thrown open to thousands of sports aficionados from home and abroad during this year's National Day Golden Week. Beijing Municipal Tourism Bureau has launched a tour entitled "Come to Beijing, Experience the Olympics" to give visitors a flavor of the 2008 Games.

According to preliminary estimates, the Olympic Green will welcome 250,000 visitors per day -- it can accommodate around 77,500 people at a time.

Visitors walk past a grid wall with drums inlaid at the man-made sinkage square in the Olympic Forest Park in Beijing, capital of China, July 6, 2008. [Xinhua]

Entrance to the Olympic Green itself requires a ticket but is free. Those who want to visit the Bird's Nest or the Water Cubic will have to pay. A combined ticket to three Olympic venues located in the Olympic Green, plus the Olympic Village costs 100 yuan (about US$15).

Individual ticket prices for the venues are as follows; the Bird's Nest -- 50 yuan, the Water Cube -- 30 yuan, the National Indoor Stadium and the Olympic Village -- 20 yuan each.

120,000 individual tickets and 3,000 combined tickets will be available daily, said Wang Chun, secretary-general of the Olympic Green Administrative Committee.

There are several ticket booths across the city: at the north gate of the Worker's Stadium; at the China Open (Tennis) center; at the Chengxiang Shopping Center and at the Daguanlou Cinema in Qianmen. For the convenience of tourists from outside the capital, there are also two booths located at the exits of the West Railway Station.

People can also book tickets through hotlines: 6551 6593, 6538 8359.

Photo taken on July 6, 2008 shows character symbols of Games on glass screen walls at the man-made sinkage square in the Olympic Forest Park in Beijing, capital of China. [Xinhua]

Free tickets to the Olympic Green will be distributed to Beijing residents and to tourists through travel agencies, according to Gu Xiaoyuan, deputy director of the Municipal Tourism Bureau.

Some 250,000 free tickets will be handed out from September 25 to 28 and half of the volume will be available after the Golden Week starts on September 29.

The city's police department has stepped up security checks across the city, especially around the Olympic venues. In addition to the one in Tian'anmen Square, a temporary security headquarters will be established in the Olympic Green. Visitors to the Olympic Green will undergo a routine security check while those entering the venues will undergo stricter checks.

According to the Municipal Tourism Bureau, about 5 million visitors normally visit Beijing during the Golden Week. The number is expected to increase by 30 percent to 7 million this year due to Olympic fever. And it's predicted that about 70 percent of tourists will visit the Olympic Green.

Apart from the Olympic tour, visitors can also enjoy Chinese folk customs in 18 districts and counties in Beijing. Eleven old commercial streets, including Qianmen Street, Dashilan Business Street and Liulichang Street will reopen as the 2008 Beijing Shopping Festival kicks off on September 28.

Cultural and travel activities in each district and county include:

Xuanwu District: Folk performance in the Laoshe Teahouse

Xicheng District: Exhibition on Yandai Xiejie street

Chaoyang District: International Travel and Culture Festival

Chongwen District: The Sixth Beijing Culture and Sports Festival of the Ming Dynasty City Wall

Changping District: Exhibition presented by the China Aviation Museum

Fangshan District: Tour to Shihuadong (Stone Flower Cave)

Tongzhou District: Canal Folk Tour

Shunyi District: The Ninth Longwantun Fruit-picking Festival

Fengtai District: Global Folk Performance

Miyun County: The Sixth Golden-fall Fruit-picking Festival

Daxing District: Golden-fall tours

Yanqing District: Golden-fall tours

Haidian District: Fruit-picking Festival

Huairou District: Garden Party at the Mutianyu Section of the Great Wall

Pinggu District: Jinhai Lake Night Gala

Shijingshan District: The Ninth Golden-fall Garden Party

Mentougou District: Miaofeng Mountain Tour

For more event details>>

Chinese Memory: Treasures of a 5000-year Civilization

(China.org.cn by Huang Shan, September 25, 2008)