The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) has started to receive applications from the domestic spectators for the tickets to the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Paralympic Games.

According to the ticketing plan, there will be 21,000 tickets for the opening ceremony and 26,000 tickets for the closing ceremony available. Their bookings will end on December 30.

No time preference will be given to any application and all applications will enjoy the same opportunity to win the lottery. After the lottery, BOCOG will notify all the applicants of their results.

The tickets for the opening ceremony will be priced in five categories: 80 yuan, 400 yuan, 800 yuan, 1,500 yuan and 2,600 yuan; and the closing ceremony tickets will be priced at 50 yuan, 200 yuan, 400 yuan and 600 yuan.

One applicant can only place one application with valid personal ID. The purchase limit is two sessions per application and two tickets per session.

As far as the tickets for Paralympic sport competitions, BOCOG will implement low price policy and "Educational Program Tickets." The latter are free of charge and will be given to the elite representatives from persons with a disability, young students and assistants to the persons with a disability.

The applicants can place their orders through BOCOG official ticketing website at www.tickets.beijing2008.cn or any of the 1,000 designated outlets of the Bank of China across the country. They can also inquire at the BOCOG ticketing call center (010—952008) for needed information.

To ensure fairness and transparency in the sales process, the Supervision Commission of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad and BOCOG's Audit and Supervision Department will oversee the ticketing program to prevent fraud. The organizers also welcome cooperation from the general public. Reports of violations can be addressed to the Supervision Commission at 86-10-66698127 or [email protected].