Rehearsal tonight

The first rehearsal of the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games will be held tonight at the Bird's Nest stadium.

The Beijing traffic authority said yesterday that besides 22 normal bus routes, it had arranged 28 special Paralympic routes fors spectators .

Auction of Olympic items

The first of 70,000 Olympic items will be auctioned next Wednesday and the registration of bids started yesterday, Tianjin-based Metro Express reported.

The items include beds, desks, and telephones, the Beijing Property Exchange, which is in charge of the auction, was quoted as saying.

The exchange said since many of the items are in large quantities, they may be more useful to companies than individuals. Bidders must initially deposit 100,000 yuan ($14,700).

Ticket sales going well

More than 70 percent of tickets to the Paralympic Games have been sold, Zhang Qiuping, a BOCOG official, said.

He said so far 1.19 million out of 1.65 million tickets had been sold. Tickets to the Bird's Nest and Water Cube were sold out.

44,000 volunteers

A total of 44,000 people from 27 countries and regions will act as volunteers at the sports venues during the Paralympics, Xinhua News Agency said yesterday.

About 4,000 will be assigned to 2,170 posts at the Games, and 400,000 to posts providing information, translation, and emergency services.