flash

Olympic seats go on sale this weekend

By Shen Jingting (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-23 09:15

Chairs used by Chinese leaders and renowned international guests during the 2008 Beijing Olympic games will be auctioned off this weekend in Beijing.

President Hu Jintao and International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge are among the famous audience members who sat in the chairs during the opening and closing ceremonies, said Zhang Xu, manager of the Beijing Jiahe Auction House.

"They have got certificates from the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games to prove it," Zhang said.

The 55 chairs will be put up for auction on Saturday. The minimum bid for each chair is set at 1,000 yuan ($147). Other furniture used during the Olympics, including sofas placed in VIP rooms for world leaders, will also be sold at the auction.

The auction requires a 3,000 yuan deposit to take part in the bidding, Zhang said.

"With previous auctions, only relatively rich people could come because the requirement has been to pay tens of thousands of yuan before bidding," Zhang said.

A private collector named Wang Zezhong purchased the furniture at an unknown price at the end of last year, the auction house said.

While Olympic torches, drums and bamboo scrolls used during the opening ceremony have been hot items in auction houses, Olympic furniture has not been selling so well.

Only 17 bidders attended an auction last September in Beijing that featured 60,000 pieces of Olympic furniture.

Fourteen lots with over 50,000 items went unsold, Xinhua News Agency reported.

"Olympic furniture is part of the Olympic legacy. Unlike torches or drums, we have to admit they have an implicit meaning because they don't have strong Olympic symbols," Li Xiang, a sports collection expert, told METRO yesterday.

"But they are still of value. People who buy them can share some sort of Olympic spirit," Li said.

Already there is one interested buyer. Zhu Xiaozhuo, president of a local advertising company, said he would consider one of the sofas.

"By purchasing Olympic furniture, such as chairs or sofas, we build a unique company culture, which combines the Olympic spirit. It inspires our employees," Zhu said.