Beijing to offer cheap tickets for students

Beijing will offer school and university students cheap tickets for the 2008 Olympics, China's state media reported.

Beijing organising committee official Wang Hui told Beijing Youth Daily that the tickets would be cheaper to encourage the involvement of young people in the Games and the reduced price would not mean a restricted view.

"All the seats of Olympic venues have been designed scientifically, and the view of any ticket holder will not be hindered," Wang, vice executive director of media and communications at the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG), said.

BOCOG president Liu Qi said last week that more than seven million tickets would go on sale to the general public in the first half of next year.

"Except for the opening and closing ceremonies and a few popular events, the majority of tickets will be very, very cheap," he told the official Xinhua news agency.

"We hope that all Chinese have a chance to come and watch the Games."