(BEIJING, December 24) -- On Monday, the Beijing Olympic Ticketing Center announced the status of the second phase of domestic Olympic ticket sales.

The ticketing center also reminded the public that only six days remain for submitting ticket applications and encouraged fans who would like to order tickets to submit their applications in a timely manner to avoid any potential delays.

According to the ticketing policies released by BOCOG (the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad), the second phase of Olympic ticketing for the Chinese mainland will run from December 10 to 30, 2007. All applicants will have an equal opportunity to get tickets, as it will not matter when applications are submitted. Following the end of the application period, all applications will enter into a lottery drawing. Fans interested in applying for tickets can do so either through the Beijing 2008 ticketing website (www.tickets.beijing2008.cn) or at designated Bank of China branches.

As of midnight on December 24, the Beijing Olympic Ticketing Center received more than 340,000 applications requesting some 2.02 million tickets, including two million competition tickets and 23,000 tickets for the Paralympic opening and closing ceremonies. Approximately 90 percent of the applications were submitted through the ticketing website.

Beijing residents submitted 182,876 applications, and residents of Heibei province, Guangdong province, and Shanghai ranked among the top three applicant groups outside of Beijing.

Based on the applications received by the ticketing center so far, Rhythmic Gymnastics, Table Tennis, Diving, Synchronized Swimming, and Artistic Gymnastics are by far the most popular events. Also, tickets for the semifinal and final competitions of certain events, including Men's Basketball, Men's 110m Hurdles and Men's Table Tennis Singles, are in far higher demand than tickets for other events of the same sports.

Because each applicant is limited to purchasing tickets for two event competitions, with a maximum of four tickets per competition, an official from the ticketing center has the following tips for applicants who would like to increase their odds in the lottery drawing: "If possible, avoid applying for those event competitions that already have an excessive number of applications, and try to choose some non final-event competitions." For example, Modern Pentathlon, Triathlon and Canoe/Kayak -- the venues for these sports are newly built and offer spectators a good view of the competitions, the official remarked.

There are six days left for fans to submit applications, as the second phase of ticket sales for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will end December 30, 2007. The official ticketing website will stop accepting applications at midnight, December 30, 2007 and Bank of China branches will stop accepting applications at 5 p.m. on the same day. All stated times are Beijing time.

For additional information regarding the ticketing process, please call the Beijing Olympic Ticketing Call Center (+86 10 952008).