Tickets for the Guangzhou Asian Games Opening and Closing Ceremony Go On Sale

It was recently reported that the tickets for opening and closing ceremony of the Asian Games have gone on sale – and have since sold over 5,000 tickets, priced at 1,600 – 6,800 RMB each. When compared with the Beijing Olympic Games, highest price ticket for the opening and closing ceremony for the Asian Games are far more expensive – 1,800 RMB more than the price of the most expensive ticket for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics; even the lowest priced tickets cost 7 times more than what it did for the Beijing games. Additionally, for the last Asian Games held in Doha, Qatar, ticket prices were much cheaper and ranged from 1,100 – 1,430 RMB.
The venue for holding the opening and closing ceremony of the games is located on Haixinsha Island in Zhujiang (the Pearl River). And tickets for the opening and closing ceremony are hard to come by (and so this is driving up the price) for several reasons. Firstly, because of its special location, the venue can only accommodate up to 250,000 seats. Secondly, people in residential condos around the venue will not be able to watch the live broadcast on TV in their homes due to security reasons. And lastly, a good portion of the tickets have already been reserved for VIP visitors, including political leaders, sponsors, and honored athletes from different countries and regions.

Photo: Xinhua