Multi-day admission tickets will go on sale for the Shanghai Expo at all domestic and overseas outlets from Jan 1.
The three and seven-day tickets will cost 400 yuan ($58) and 900 yuan, offering respective discounts of 17 percent and 19 percent off the aggregate cost of single day passes.
The tickets may be purchased on the same day and will remain valid throughout the six-month expo, except for 17 peak days during which time special tickets will be sold to control the number of visitors.
Students, children, Chinese military personnel on active duty, people with disabilities and those over 60 will also be eligible to buy the special admission tickets at lower prices from early next year.
Meanwhile, visitors who prefer single-day tickets should snap them up before the turn of the year to save 10 yuan. From Jan 1 to April 30, standard single-day tickets will rise to 150 yuan and peak-day tickets will go up to 190 yuan. Both will increase by another 10 yuan before the expo starts on May 1.
As construction work at the expo site enters its final stage, tickets sales have already hit a new peak. A slew of promotional campaigns will be introduced in 18 countries and regions to boost overseas sales, said a supervisor surnamed Jiang at the Shanghai Expo bureau's ticketing center.
Four authorized dealers in the domestic market - China Mobile, China Telecom, Bank of Communications and China Post - have already set up more than 5,300 outlets nationwide. As of early this month, sales of 11.8 million tickets had been reported, surpassing the sales target set for 2009.
Different from the system employed during last year's Beijing Olympics, buyers will not need to show any proof of identity and sales are not restricted. Visitors can also purchase online.
For those who increasingly rely on their cell phones, 'mobile tickets' have been on sale since November. Cell phone owners can obtain a new SIM card enabling them to gain admission to the expo by simply swiping their phone at one of the entrances.
Organizers have calculated an overall attendance figure of 70 million for the expo, meaning that at its peak the site will welcome 800,000 people each day.
Some 40 percent of those are expected to turn up in October when China celebrates its national day and typically takes on a seven-day vacation. Another 28 percent will come in May, when the event opens to the public, and 6 percent the month after, according to Chen Xueyu, deputy director of the ticket center of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination.
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