OPINION> Commentary
Too costly for common man
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-10-06 07:40

The pricing of tickets for the Olympic venues should consider the income of ordinary people, says an article in Beijing News. The following is an excerpt:

During the National Day holidays, a lot of people visited the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube, and bought tickets to have a close look at these spectacular Olympic structures.

The ticket for the Bird's Nest is priced at 50 yuan while that for the Water Cube at 30 yuan. Those for other adjacent venues such as the Olympic Village are also priced around 20 yuan per person.

The opening of these Olympic venues is to the great satisfaction of people. But I do not believe that the prices of these tickets are cheap. Someone has already called for the holding of a hearing to judge whether the prices of these tickets should be kept at these levels for a long time, and I agree with it.

If one wants to visit all the Olympic sports venues, he or she must pay over 100 yuan. If the parents want to bring their only child to have a visit, they have to pay several hundred. Such high prices may bar low-income families, poverty-stricken people and thousands of migrant workers from visiting these places. Also, many of the potential visitors may come from places outside Beijing. Will they not regret being unable to enter these venues just because of the expensive tickets?

Some related departments should fully consider the public uses of these Olympic venues. They should realize that if the threshold for prices of these venues is lowered, more people would be able to share the Olympic spirit. Also, the social progress these visits may bring cannot be gauged only by the ticket income. What is more, the money for building these Olympic venues actually came from taxpayers and donations. They should thus have a say on how to set the prices of these tickets.

In short, the Olympic venues should not only be open to the public, but their entry tickets should also be low enough to enable ordinary people to visit them. Do not keep the masses far from these venues. The departments concerned may solicit opinions from the society and hold a hearing to decide on reasonable prices for these tickets.

(China Daily 10/06/2008 page4)