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Lessons from Good Luck Beijing's Big Week

Friday, 25th April 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

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Over the last week, running from venue to venue to catch sporting events at their Olympic sites, China Sports Today learned a few useful lessons. Here are our observations:

Ticketing Tips
Ticketing has been different at each venue for the Good Luck Beijing events. Some of the on-site box offices sell advance tickets, and others do not. The cute little "Tickets" link on each of the competitions' Good Luck Beijing home pages invariably doesn't work. When it's available, the best option for buying tickets is Emma Ticketmaster, which allows you to order tickets for delivery or pick-up. It also often has more complete practical information than the Good Luck site.

Under Construction
The venues themselves are pretty much ready to go, but the area that will be the focal of the games is still very much under construction. This means that spectators should allow extra time for getting to the venues, as access to the National Stadium, National Aquatics Center and surrounding venues is still confusing and inconvenient.

Is This Seat Taken?
The Good Luck Beijing events generally offer three different pricing categories for tickets. The strategy among locals seems to be to buy the cheapest category and then move up as close to the action as possible. This has caused some awkward moments as foreigners walk in with their tickets and are surprised when their exact seat needs to be cleared. If you are buying a ticket to upcoming events, keep this in mind.

Big BOCOG is Watching
At both the Workers' Stadium and the Fencing Hall, I received text messages from Good Luck Beijing upon enterin. The messages welcomed me to the stadium, informed me that I couldn't smoke and urged me to direct any questions to the volunteers. I hadn't given my phone number to anyone, and perhaps in my heightened American sense of privacy, was ever so slightly unnerved that I had been pinged.

Making Concessions
There is good news and bad news about the snacks sold at these events. The good news is that, unlike at sporting events I have been to in other countries, there is practically no markup on the snacks. A bottle of Coke or tea is three yuan, a large Snickers bar four yuan. The bad news is that the selection is small and not very appealing—Chinese style hot dogs, microwave popcorn, potato chips and the aforementioned Snickers.

Tags: Good Luck Beijing

Worth the Wait

Friday, 25th April 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

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Earlier this week, I told you how my attempt to get into the National Aquatics Center, or Water Cube, last Saturday ended up in a ride with the police and a lesson that buying scalped tickets can lead to an afternoon of bureaucracy and boredom. But I never got around to relating Act 2, when I returned to the scene of the crime on Sunday.

Tickets for the synchronized swimming events only went on sale a couple of hours before each day's competition. I arrived at the Cube at 10:30 Sunday morning, and joined the 60 or so people who had already lined up to buy tickets. As the hours passed, the line stretched to at least 500 people—it was hard to get a count because everyone huddled under umbrellas and crowded together for some warmth on a chilly and rainy day.

Where I stood in line, people were taking the long and uncomfortable wait rather well. One woman, who said she had come out because her six-year-old son "loves swimming," said to me, "I was sure that there would be a long wait. Everybody is excited about participating in the Olympic games and this is the beginning. There is a difference between staying at home to watch on TV and getting into the stadium to see it with your own eyes."
Inside, time for some Olympic posing.
Inside, time for some Olympic posing.

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I asked Chen Dong, a car salesman from northern Hebei, if getting into the Water Cube was worth the trouble of waiting three hours in the rain, and he answered quickly, "This is no trouble." He had taken the train in just to see this event, and for a reason I couldn't quite understand, had to walk the last 30 kilometers to Beijing. "I'm a little sore," he said. "But ever since I knew China would host the Olympics, it has been my dream to come to Beijing. When the games start in August, I can't come because the hotels and the tickets will be too expensive."

The rain-soaked masses cheered when ticket sales commenced precisely at 1:00. Inside the Cube, it was a video-taping, photo-snapping frenzy, and the athletes put on a good show, with the British duo winning the duet free routine portion of the synchronized swimming test event.

Tags: Good Luck Beijing, synchronized swimming, Water Cube

USA Dishes China its First Loss in Basketball Test Tournament

Friday, 25th April 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

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The United States women's national basketball team gave China its first loss in the Good Luck Beijing Women's Basketball International Invitational, beating the home team by a score of 86 to 61. The USA's Lisa Leslie led all scorers with 26 points and Sylvia Fowles notched a double-double with 20 points and 16 rebounds. China's high scorer was Bian Lan, with 14.

Thanks to fast break buckets, unchallenged second shot opportunities and skillful post moves from Leslie and Fowles, the United States scored a lot of its points in the paint and kept its two-point field goal shooting percentage at a high 59 percent.

China played like a well-coached team made up of talented athletes who have played basketball since they were 10 to 12 years old. They made their cuts and set their screens, shot 50 percent from the three-point line and made 75 percent of their free throws. But the US team looked like a group of women who have been dribbling as long as they have been walking. They easily broke China's press and put on a clinic on how to execute low-post moves. They dominated the boards, 48 to 31, and also had three players combine for six blocks.

"We should have done better although we are not as good as them in strength and talent," China's Chen Xiaoli said after the game.

If the USA revealed weaknesses, they would be free throw shooting (64 percent) and three-point shooting (3-for-11).

The Chinese fans continued to show the sportsmanship that they have throughout the tournament, cheering not just for their team but also for particularly impressive plays by the opponent. They have, however, picked up the practice of harassing the free throw shooter with a chorus of boos.

For American fans, it was the first test event that gave them a chance to see some athletes who are household names in the United States—veterans like Leslie and Kara Lawson and rising stars like soon-to-be WNBA rookies Fowles and Candice Wiggins.

"I'm from Connecticut and getting tickets to women's basketball games there is next to impossible," said one Beijing resident. A friend of hers, a fellow expat from Minnesota, said she especially enjoyed the chance to see Team USA compete, since she'd been unable to secure tickets to the Olympic tournament.

The Chinese and American fans get one more look at their teams this Saturday, when the two go head-to-head one more time for the tournament championship.

"We know it's going to be a big game with China the day after tomorrow, so we are really focused today," said USA head coach Anne Donovan.

Image: Good Luck Beijing

Tags: Anne Donovan, basketball, Bian Lan, China, Good Luck Beijing, Lisa Leslie, national team, Sylvia Fowles, USA