China struggles to handle Olympic ticket load

Heavy demand for Olympic tickets caused website problems and hours-long waits at Bank of China (BOC) branches as the third round of domestic ticket sales began on Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported. As the 1.38 million tickets became available for purchase at 9am, both BOC workers and online buyers reported error messages and delays from the games’ ticket-issuing website. Last November, during the second ticket offering, the ticketing system crashed moments after selling only 43,000 tickets nationwide. On Monday, state media reported that 300,000 tickets were sold despite the glitches. A fourth and final round of ticket sales for China residents will be held in July, according to the games’ organizers.