2008 Olympics Information

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

HOW DO I CONTACT THE U.S. EMBASSY ON OLYMPIC ISSUES?

We welcome inquires via e-mail at BeijingOlympics@state.gov, via fax at (86-10) 6410-9650, or via phone at (86-10) 6410-8221.

HOW DO I BUY TICKETS?

• If you live in the United States, see the official sales agent Co-Sport’s website.
  http://www.cosport.com/
• If you live in China, see the official Beijing Organizing Committee for the 29^th Olympiad Games’ website  http://tickets.beijing2008.com
• If you live elsewhere, please contact the National Olympic Committee of the country in which you reside.

Who Can Purchase in China
Starting in April 2007, eligible persons living in China will be able to use the BOCOG website or designated Bank of China sites to register to buy tickets.  To be eligible, foreigners living in China must have a Chinese visa valid for at least six months in a valid passport issued by a recognized foreign government.   Chinese citizens may use one of several official identification documents; please see the BOCOG website for a complete listing.

Foreigners living in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan are not eligible to buy through the BOCOG website or BOC branches in China; they must buy tickets through the Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan Organizing Committees or their designated sales agents. 

BOCOG is reserving at least 50 percent of the 7,000,000 available tickets for sales in China.  The rest are allocated to individual National Olympic Committees of participating teams.  CoSport is the general sales agent for the United States Olympic Committee (USOC - http://www.usoc.org); CoSport has a link on the USOC website.  

WHERE DO I FIND BEIJING TOURISM INFORMATION (INCLUDING HOTEL ROOMS)?

The Beijing Tourism Administration is a branch of the Beijing Municipal Government and includes information on hotels, restaurants, and tourist sites.

http://english.bjta.gov.cn/

INFORMATION FOR AMERICAN CITIZENS TRAVELLING TO CHINA DURING THE OLYMPICS

(American Citizen Services)

http://beijing.usembassy-china.org.cn/service.html

HOW DO I VOLUNTEER FOR THE OLYMPICS?

The Beijing Organizing Committee for the 29^th Olympic Games (BOCOG) and the Beijing Olympic Games Volunteer Work Coordination Group have opened up China’s 2008 Olympic and Paralympics volunteer program to applicants worldwide. 
Americans interested in becoming an Olympic or Paralympic volunteer should apply on-line with the Beijing Olympic Games Foreign Volunteer Recruitment Center.  Go to http://www.ebeijing.gov.cn/ and then click on the Olympic Volunteers Recruitment banner.    Interested applicants can find additional general information about the program and volunteering at the BOCOG site,http://en.beijing2008.cn/70/71/overseavolunteer.shtml
Applications must be in before March 31, 2008.  BOCOG will review and select applicants in May 2008.   

Applicants should have realistic expectations.  There will be 202 teams competing at the games with representation among the volunteer corps from each of the teams’ home nation/organization being proportional to team size.  Volunteer positions are limited; competition will be intense.  BOCOG will select 70,000 for the Olympic Games and 30,000 for the Paralympics.  More than 450,000 people, over 280,000 from the Beijing area alone, have already applied through the domestic recruitment program.

BOCOG has advised that foreign volunteers with either specific technical skills (e.g. professional interpreter) or a long history of working on previous Olympics will be given first priority.  All volunteer candidates will be subject to a background check per International Olympic Committee regulations and need to comply with China’s visa regulations.  Please refer to BOCOG’s website for additional details.  http://en.beijing2008.cn/83/67/column211716783.shtml

CAN I VOLUNTEER WITH THE U.S. EMBASSY DURING THE 2008 OLYMPICS

Unfortunately, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing is unable to accept unpaid volunteers.  There are however, Embassy internships each year and some of those interns may be asked to work on Olympic projects in 2008.  Pease refer to our website for details on how to apply.

http://careers.state.gov/student/

TELL ME MORE ABOUT THE U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM

Please refer to the United States Olympic Committee’s Official Site for more details on the U.S. Olympic team.

http://www.usoc.org/

TELL ME MORE ABOUT PREPARATIONS FOR THE BEIJING 2008 OLYMPICS

Please refer to the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 29^th Olympiad Games’ (BOCOG) website for up-to-date information on planning for the 2008 Games.

http://en.beijing2008.cn/

TELL ME MORE ABOUT THE OLYMPIC MOVEMENT

Please refer to the International Olympic Committee’s website for a history of the Olympics. 

http://www.olympic.org/uk/index_uk.asp