A survey conducted by the Shenzhen Evening News showed that nearly 80 percent of the city's respondents will book Olympics tickets, and most want to buy tickets online, yesterday's edition reported.

About 76.8 percent of the people surveyed said that they plan to book tickets for Olympic events. Among them, 18 percent said they had already gone through the ticket subscription process, and the rest were trying to find the right procedure to do it.

"It would be a great regret if I didn't go and watch the Olympics when it is being held in my own country," said one message left on the newspaper's Web site.

More than half of the people surveyed said they would spend between 500 yuan (US$64.94) and 5,000 yuan to watch the Olympics, and about 2 percent said they wanted to spend somewhere between 100 yuan and 500 yuan. Around 2 percent of those surveyed said money was no problem as they wanted to go to Beijing for the Olympics at any price.

Among the four options for buying Olympics tickets, booking tickets on the Internet is the most popular, with more than 60 percent of the interviewees choosing this option. About 35 percent said they would buy tickets at bank branches appointed by the Beijing Olympics Committee.

However, not all those who have gone through the ticket application process will be guaranteed tickets. Anyone who submits an application, either early or on the last day, will have an equal chance of securing tickets.

Fewer than 30 percent of those surveyed think they will get tickets after the random issue has been made and more than half think they have very little chance of securing any at all.

Most difficult of all to obtain are tickets to the opening ceremony. About 60 percent of the people surveyed chose tickets to the opening ceremony as their first choice, and 10 percent chose the closing ceremony. Games involving Chinese teams are popular with gymnastics, shooting, diving and table tennis top choices.

While there are enthusiasts who claim even hearing cheers outside the sports venues will be better than watching TV at home, other people would rather stay at home to watch the games live. "You can't miss anything on TV,¡± said a man surnamed Liu.

Editor: Donald