Tickets, Tickets, Tickets and How to Get 'Em
If you’ve got an open mind, a pocket full of cash, and a desire to see the Olympics, then listen up. Here are 6 helpful hints to get tickets on the day of the match. OH, quick note, speaking Chinese yourself or bringing a friend who does will facilitate the ticket process.
• Go to the venue
• Sometimes it helps to go to the shady areas just beside the entrance
• Keep your eyes open
• Look for groups of people
• Look for people holding a lot of tickets, smacking them on their hands and looking around
• Don’t be afraid to bargain, but don’t get greedy
Go to the venue
Ok so the alternative ticket distributors buy a ton of tickets to resell to buyers. Since the events have already started, the sellers are going to take the tickets to the venues on the day of the event and try to get rid of them. Word on the street is that if you go like 5 to 10 minutes after the start of the event, you can get tickets for a lower price than if you buy them before the event. I haven’t tried that yet though. However going to the venue totally works. My friend and I caught a train to Tianjin and after 2 minutes at the stadium we had 2 A level seats for only 50 kuai more than they’d cost at the ticket booth. Also, my friend and I went to Worker’s Stadium north gate and in like 20 minutes we had 2 soccer tickets for 200kuai a piece.
Shady spots
So buying tickets from random folks is illegal. Go figure. So what better way to find people doing shady things then in shady areas? Usually these areas are very close to the entrance of the venue or at the entrance to where only people with tickets can go.
Keep your eyes open
When looking for the distributors, keep your eyes open. I know that sounds obvious, but it’s not just looking around. When you make eye contact with a scalp…I mean Alternative ticket distributor, they will usually hold contact and either wave you over, ask you if you need tickets, or come to you. Sometimes you’ll need to ask if they’re selling tickets.
Look for groups of people
Often times, if you see a cluster of people, probably in a shady place or off to the side, there are tickets being sold. The best thing to do is to first walk passed the group and peak in to see what’s going on. If you see tickets, join the group and ask questions and look to buy. Questions should be like “what times do you have?” and “are these seats together?” not like “are these real?”or “is this legal?”
Ticket stacks in hand
Sometimes when you see one lone person with a stack of tickets in hand they are distributors, but other times they are people waiting for their friends and family. However asking doesn’t hurt.
Bargain
So you’ve found your ticket person and the ticket you want. The ticket seems a little expensive. Try to bargain it down, but once you get to a price that’s reasonable don’t push it. Remember, you are buying tickets the day of the event. Imagine buying plane tickets the day of the flight. Same thing. Come with a price in mind and try to get the ticket for that price.
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I should note, would love to hear more on this one from anyone who's had experience buying scalped tickets, not just from the overworked, underpaid folks at CW.
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Someone came up to me at Paddy's and asked me if I was selling tickets. When I looked surprised he told me he'd heard Paddy's was a hub for scalping
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I've gone cruising for tickets a few times now with varying degrees of success, but I've never had any problems with official crackdowns. A few 'transfers' have happened in broad daylight, right in front of police officers and they didn't even bat an eyelid. Looks like a case of BOCOG's bark being worse than their bite.
For those who don't want to test the limits of the Chinese law, I've heard a few people have success with online classifieds, like Craigslist Beijing
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A bunch of Chinese coworkers recommend skulking around BeiTuCheng subway stop (the transfer between line 10 and the Olympic line). Apparently there are quite a few 'alternatives' on offer there. Makes sense - far enough from the Green to avoid official eyes, close enough that you can make it to your newly acquired event of choice...
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Anyone know where to get tickets for the Paralympics? The official website lets me book tickets, but when I try to pay it gives me an error. Or... for some events it says tickets are only available for immediate purchase. Would be great with a bit more detailed instructions.
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Hooray, the scalp. . err. . .Alternative Ticket Distributor post! Great to see something on this. Thanks slushy!
Still, I think there's a critical question that's unanswered here. Which of the venues are the best places to score tickets? It was incredibly easy to get boxing tickets in front of the Worker's Gymnasium, but I had zero luck finding any scalpers near Chaoyang Park when I was crusing for beach volleyball tickets. Granted, that was before all the questions about empty seats popped up in the media, so the people responsible for such things may have loosened up on the crackdown on ticket resellers since then.
Aaaanyway . . .
Any places that are paticular hubs for ticket selling (I heard the Beitucheng subway stop was a good place to grab tickets for multiple events)? Any venues where you shouldn't expect to see scalpers? Would love to hear more on this one.