In what is good news for visitors to the China Olympics the prices for hotel rooms seem to be coming down as the opening ceremony approaches. Many hotels had more than tripled their normal rates hoping to cash in on the summer games tourist rush. It has obviously had a serious effect on numbers making their way to Beijing to watch the games.

Zhang Ting, sales manager for the Zhongyu Century Grand Hotel said “Bookings are so low that we have no choice but to cut prices”.

I wonder how this makes people feel that have booked through the official ticket and accommodation provider CoSport. About six months ago I was looking on that site at the price of packages including tickets and a hotel room and the prices seemed to be highly inflated.

Sports fans thinking about a last minute vacation in the Olympic city should be able to take advantage of the lower than expected hotel room rates in Beijing. Even if tickets are not available the atmosphere in the city should be worth the visit.

Beijing officials have said they expected around 450 000 to 500 000 foreign visitors during the games with an additional one million Chinese visitors heading to Beijing.

The higher hotel prices have been blamed for keeping the numbers down from what was predicted.

The subway line running from Beijing Capital Airport is 28km long with 4 stations stretching from Dongzhimen to the airport. The maximum running speed of the train is 110km/h. Despite being more than ten times the normal subway fare the ride from the airport is still reasonably priced at 25 yuan. With the exchange rate of 1 USD = 6.82848 CNY as at 21 July that equals USD3.66

Subway Line 10 (Phase I) and the Olympic Extension have also opened. The three new lines have a combined rail distance of 58km. This now brings the total track length in the Beijing subway system to 200km of tracks with 8 rail lines.

As an important subway line connecting the north and the east of Beijing, the Phase I Project of Subway Line 10 extends 25km long with 22 stops, and includes six interchange stations with connections to the No. 13 line, the Olympic extension, No.5 line, the Airport Express Line, No.1 line, and No. 4 line. As such, Subway Line 10 can reach Beijing’s new development area Zhongguancun, the Beijing Olympic Center, the Asia Games Village and the CBD zone, as well as other key functional areas.

The Phase I Project of Subway Line 10 is important as it connects the north and the east of Beijing. Line 10 runs for 25km and includes 22 stops. The line is also an interchange for several lines and connects to no. 13 line, no. 5 line, the Olympic extension, the Airport Express Line, no 4 line and no. 1 line. Line 10 is an important line that has coverage of the new development area Zhongguancun, the Olympic Center and the CBD.

The new Olympic Extension line is 4.5km long in total with 4 stops. The starting stop, Beitucheng Station, is connected to the Olympic Green and the Olympic Central Zone. From 20 July only Olympic ticket holders for that day and and holders of registered certificates for the Beijing Olympics Games will be able to use the extension line.

The normal subway lines cost 2 yuan which with the exchange rate of 1 USD = 6.83386 as at 21 July is 29 US cents.

The reason for the drop is said to be as a result of the fallout from the Tibet situation and also the earthquake in Sichuan in May. On top of that the new visa rules are said to be keeping people away.

I recently applied for visas for myself and my wife and daughter to travel to China in August and we had no problems. It took four business days to get the visas. We had to show our flight details. Accommodation details and provide a wedding certificate to show that we really are married. Nothing to difficult.

The reduction in visitors is also expected to flow over into the China Olympic period. This comes as bad news for hotel developers expecting an Olympic bonanza. The embarked on a huge building program to cash in on the Olympic rush and also the flow on tourists that visit in the out years.

Many hotels were hoping to charge up to 10 times their normal rates during the Olympic period. Due to the downturn these prices are less likely, at least for tourists who are yet to make bookings.

This might be bad news for the hotel owners however it is actually good news for the everyday tourist. Prices will be at more reasonable levels.

Earlier today I searched the HotelsCombined hotel booking website to see how room rates are looking for the China Olympics. Hotels Combined makes it easy to compare prices as they already have data from over 30 popular booking sites in their database.

Using the Hotels Combined site I compared the room rates for the 8th-16 July with 12-16 August. That is Tuesday to Friday nights at the Beijing hotels.

I found that for the July period there are rooms available from an unbelievably low USD9 a night staying at the 9 Dragons House. I have not seen that hotel in person so I cannot vouch for its quality.

One hotel that I have stayed at in the past is the Landmark Hotel Beijing. It is located in the Chaoyang District of Beijing. The recently refurbished Hard Rock Cafe is in the same building. The price for July is USD100 per night and the availability status is “instant confirmation”. In August the site says there are rooms for USD141 per night which considering this is the Olympic period, is quite reasonable. The availability is “on request (24 hours)”. This may mean you actually do not get a room.

As another comparison for a Beijing hotel that I am familiar with I looked at Swissotel Hotel Beijing. It is a nice hotel located on the second ring road. In the July period the room rate was USD124 per night. This compares with the August period where the price is showing as USD160 per night. Once again this is reasonable.

If you are thinking of going to Beijing for the Olympics it is still not too late to at least experience the Olympic buzz associated with staying in a city as it hosts the Olympics. I am not sure how you will go with getting tickets into the events but you will still be able to find reasonably priced accommodation.

If you are thinking about it take action now. There are 40 day to go at the time of this post.

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In what I must say was the most boring ceremony I have seen in a while the flame was first lit using a silver torch. It was then transferred to a candle like object and carried to a location in front of the many guests that looked on. It was now that they almost had me falling asleep as around 6 guys dressed in traditional Greek clothing danced around in slow motion.

Then followed some women dancing in slow motion. I was just wanting to see the original flame light up the Beijing torch however I was made to wait while something as boring as watching grass grow was displayed. 36 minutes after the first flame was lit from the rays of the sun the Beijing torch was finally lit.

The High Priestess, actress Maria Nafpliotou kindled a torch held by Greece’s Olympic silver medalist for taekwondo Alexandros Nikolaidis. This moment marked the first time that a Beijing Olympic torchbearer held the flame. After some time Nikolaidis made his was to the Coubertin monument where he paused for several minutes before starting a run with the flame.

The Olympic Flame will spend the next six days being carried around Greece before it makes its way to Beijing on March 31. After a day in Beijing it heads to Almaty followed by Istanbul, St. Peterburg, London, Paris, San Francisco, Buenos Aires, Dar es Salaam, Muscat, Islamabad, New Delhi, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Canberra, Nagano, Macao and returns to China on May 4.

I look forward to the visit to Canberra as that is where I will join the torch relay. In August 2008 I very much look forward to my vacation to Beijing with my family which will take in the 2008 Olympic Games.

The official torch relay site is http://torchrelay.beijing2008.cn

Although history and culture tends to vary considerably between Asian countries, it can be helpful to get some general Asia travel tips. However, China is unique in that it is the world’s most populous country and is under quasi-Communist rule. The government is under the strict control of the Chinese Communist Party. Read up on travel advice that can be found free from various government websites before making travel plans.

The majority of Asian countries are much the same in that they display a high degree of respect for their elders and customs are very prevalent. There are also a number of items that are not allowed to be imported or exported from China. Unauthorized items include guns, ammunition, explosives, certain radio parts, Chinese currency, media that is contrary to China’s politics, economy, culture, and ethics such as pornography or religious texts.

When visiting China one must be careful even when taking what might seem like innocent magazines into the country. The image and suggestions that appear in many magazine ads may be considered pornographic by Chinese officials even though they are completely normal in many other cultures. It is also illegal to export rare items, such as relics, some books, rare plants and animals, as well as precious metals or diamonds. As you find information on this topic, you may find many Asian travel tips that indicate that other countries have similar policies.

In China, there is a low crime rate, but it has increased in recent years. However, foreigners are rarely victims of crime. Many experts suspect that the low crime rate is partially due to the lack of guns in China, but stabbings have become more prevalent. Many of the laws are different in China, although laws and penalties relating to drugs are strict and can result in serious jail time. Occasionally foreigners are detained and fined for improper sexual relations with Chinese citizens.

One of the China travel tips that is likely to come in handy is take some time to learn several basic phrases in Mandarin, the official language of China. Although you do not need to be fluent, knowing how to locate a bathroom and ask how much something costs will help immensely. Depending on how long you are in China, you may be present for one of their many holidays. If this is the case you should find some holiday tips, find out what is being celebrated, and join in on the festivities. Many times knowing the proper holiday tips and customs is enough for Chinese people to make you feel more welcome. The two main Chinese holiday periods are Spring Festival and National Day. A tip for you with these holidays is to try not to travel at these times as it is extremely busy.

Even though it may sound like China is too serious about many issues, their rules and regulations ensure that China remains a safe place for its citizens and visitors. Tourism is emerging as a major industry in China and the laws will likely become more lax in the future. Be sure to search for your China travel tips before departing on your Chinese vacation,and of course don’t forget your travel insurance.

If visiting China you will find getting a cheap flight to Beijing is a great starting point for your vacation. Beijing can be used as a base before heading to attractions such as the great wall of China and the Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an. You can also take a train ride down to Shanghai and enjoy many attractions in that region. When taking a vacation in China the options are endless. I hope you enjoy the China travel tips.

Between now and May 2008 Beijing and the other cities in China that will be hosting Olympic events will be testing facilities by holding test events. Right now in Beijing there is a hockey tournament.

If sport is not what excites you there are plenty of other reasons to visit Beijing and beyond. A flight to Beijing takes around 12 hours 40 mins from Los Angeles and around 14 hours from Washington DC. Flying from London to Beijing the flying time is around 10 hours 30 mins.

Once you arrive in Beijing you have many great tourist attractions just waiting for you to explore. You could start with a day trip out to the Great Wall. Other must see places include Tiananamen Square, the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven.

If shopping is more your thing you will find many of the name brands in fashionable shopping districts such as Wangfujing or if you like a bargain the Silk Market will be more for you.

You may think differently when I tell you that the tickets are now available for registration. From now until early July you can register your ticket requests at the CoSport website. CoSport are the official ticketing agent for people from the US, Australia, Canada and a few other countries. You can look through the schedule and select up to 48 event tickets per order.

Once you are ready to make you selection you fill in the order form and submit your order. At this stage you are charged $1 to verify your credit card. I selected some opening ceremony tickets which at the lower end cost USD256. For the A tickets they will set you back USD773.

Some other examples include Athletics from USD9 if you want to attend a morning session sitting in the C class seats. If you prefer to be a bit closer to the action it is USD137 for an A class ticket during a night session. For swimming the price range is USD17 to 107.

If you need a hotel in Beijing you can select accommodation packages from the CoSport website. They have a choice of four Beijing hotels that are all four star. You can choose accommodation only or select an option that includes tickets. Prices range from USD2085 all the way up to USD 9581 for a five night package that includes tickets to Gymnastics – Rhythmic, Beach Volleyball (M Finals), Table Tennis (W Finals), Diving(M Semis), Athletics M&W Finals), Basketball (M Finals) and the Closing Ceremony.

The Beijing Hotels that CoSport have selected are Minzu Hotel, Jianguo Hotel, Novotel Peace Hotel Beijing and Landmark Hotel Beijing. I have personally stayed in the the Landmark Hotel and can recommend it. If you prefer to go it alone with accommodation you could start searching the Hotels Combined website around August this year.

The one thing that remains is to find a flight to Beijing. This is also something you would probably need to wait until around August before you start your search to make flight reservations to Beijing. The main thing at this stage is to secure some tickets to your favourite sporting events.

From my HotelsCombined link I performed a search that requested hotels in Beijing for 5 August through to 16 August 2008. This covers a period that takes in most of the games. The result was astounding. If I did not have relatives that I am staying with when visiting Beijing I would be looking into this further. Anyway the price I got was $9.33 per night staying at a 3 star hotel called the Wangfujing Dawan Hotel Beijing.

Wangfujing is a prime location in Beijing. It is probably the premier shopping district in Beijing and also is not that far from the Forbidden City and Tiananamen Square.

If anyone out there is considering going to the games I suggest you give this search a try and see what you come up with. Maybe it was just a computer glitch at the time but who knows.

If this Beijing hotel room bargain is not a mistake all you need now for that truly bargain summer games holiday is a cheap flight to Beijing. You can check out the tips for a flight to Beijing at the cheapflightcruises.com website.

The other day I started searching through my frequent flyers membership site for flights to Beijing sometime in August 2008. It looks as though I will have to wait until August 2007 for the flights to be available. I have been wondering if it will be possible to find a flight going to Beijing that will allow people to book using frequent flyer points. As an alternative I have been thinking about trying to get to Hong Kong by airplane and then taking a train from Hong Kong to Beijing. I think this would be quite an adventure.

I will be doing some research into cheap flights to Beijing for the Olympics in upcoming months. I think the best opportunity to get a good deal will be to fly into cities other than Beijing and then do some sightseeing while travelling by train into the capital.

Recently I noticed on the Beijing 2008 website they have opened registration to buy tickets for the Olympics. The http://www.tickets.beijing2008.cn/ website is only allowing Chinese nationals or Foreign Residents to register for tickets. The cost for opening ceremony tickets ranges from 200 to 5000 RMB which is roughly 25 to 625 USD. A bargain if you ask me. The only problem is that this price is for the locals. I am sure prices will be a lot higher for the visiting sports fans from western countries.

If you are interested in going to the Beijing Olympics and come from the countries listed below head over to the www.cosport.com website. They are the official ticket agent for Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, New Zealand, Slovak Republic and USA. Once you are on that website you can register an interest for the tickets you would like to purchase. After that you register and then wait to be contacted by the Cosport staff.

I have registered my tickets and look forward to seeing what I can get from my selections. I was lucky enough to attend the Sydney Olympics and remember fondly the great feeling you got just walking the streets during the festive occasion. I have never felt so excited when walking the streets of a major city. The Olympic buzz was alive and well back in 2000.

I am counting the days until the Beijing Olympics and can’t wait to visit the city once again.