Shanghai Expo tickets selling fast for October holiday

With the Shanghai 2010 Expo closing at the end of October, October Holiday is the last chance for many to sneak a peek at many of the Expo pavilions before they pack their bags. 

Tickets for October 1 (China's National Day and China Pavilion Day) and October 31 (the date of the closing ceremony), are proving the most popular. 

Although off-peak tickets are for general admission, if someone has the hankering to see China’s first World’s Fair during peak times (read: October Holiday or during the closing ceremony) only passes for specific days will get people in the park. 

"I've tried four of the appointed agencies -- China Mobile, China Telecom, Bank of Communications and China Post -- but failed to get a single ticket for the closing ceremony," said Yu Wei, from Jiaxing, Zhejing Province, to Xinhua news.

How tickets are being sold is also changing. After September 1, only tickets bought at the Expo gates, and tickets sold for 14 specific days (Oct 1 to 7 and Oct 25 to 31), will be available.

So if you haven’t bought a standard day pass or multi-day ticket, you’re not going to get one.

The ticket limit's goal is honorable, and something the Expo is in need of: crowd control, said Expo officials.

The move is aimed at ensuring the smooth operation of the Expo over the last two months and to make visitors more comfortable, said Zhao Lei, deputy director of the center. 

An official from China Youth Travel Service in Anhui province told China Daily that 18 million visitors have purchased Expo tickets but haven't come yet, meaning crowds will most likely balloon in October. 

"October will be the highest peak in terms of traffic during the half-year event, with an estimated 600,000 to 700,000 visitors per day," said Tang Yibo, manager of the holiday department at Ctrip, a leading China-based online travel agency. 

Or a better idea: go in September. 

For the last two months of the Expo, only China Mobile, China Telecom, Bank of Communications and China Post will sell tickets for the 14 peak days -- so don’t believe the dude selling them on the street next to phone cards -- and they’re priced at RMB 200 each.

Shanghai 2010 Expo ticket hopefuls will also be able to buy the intraday tickets for the next day after 4 p.m.