BEIJING - Getting an Olympic ticket was a hard task, the same case of buying a Paralympic ticket as many Chinese people have been rushing to "Bird Nest" and "Water Cube" to watch Paralympics these days for a taste of the Olympic venues in a post-Olympic time.
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The National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, is seen in this picture taken on Sept. 10, 2008. [chinadaily.com.cn]
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With the Beijing Paralympics running halfway, many a friends still kept asking to buy tickets for them, any ticket as long as for either "Bird Nest" or "Water Cube", the neighboring centerpieces of the Olympic venues in Beijing.
However, Paralympic Games ticket sellers said all tickets of the above venues had been sold out days ago, only those for competitions at universities were still available.
"I have gotten a Paralympic ticket of 'Bird Nest'," one pal said on the phone line with excitement. When being asked what the competition was, he simply answered "I haven't known yet. The important thing is that I will watch Paralympics in 'Bird Nest', which enables me to have a taste of the Olympic atmosphere on the spot."
The pal was not alone with such a feeling as random interviews found many spectators were truely in the mood to enjoy the Olympic temptation in post-Olympic time, for the Paralympics is also a once in a lifetime affair in Beijing.
The Olympic venues are not ordinary stadiums in China. They are becoming new landmarks in Beijing. People love to take photos at "Bird Nest", "Water Cube" and the Olympic Park.
To justify their participation, the atmosphere at those venues are particularly full of passion with human waves and chorus of spectators becoming familiar scenes those days.
When the curtain rolled down for the Beijing Olympic Games in August, many people regretted they did not have the chance of watching Olympic Games in the Olympic venues because of the lack of a ticket. The last batch of tickets for the Olympic basketball matches were sold out in only nine hours, instead of three days which was anticipated before.
The tremendous Olympic venues such as "Bird Nest" are the proud of the Chinese, people were dreaming of watching Olympic matches at those venues. And the Beijing Paralympic Games becomes another precious chance for them to realize such a dream.
Besides, there are only slight differences between the Olympics and the Paralympics in hardware and software, and spectators who failed to get Olympic tickets are able to compensate their regret.
It's true that the Paralympic matches are not as fierce as the Olympic competitions; however, there is not lack of applause, passion and enjoyment as well for both athletes and audience.
