Shanghai Daily news

Unlike the Beijing Olympics, World Expo Shanghai 2010 will not hold a random draw for ticket sales, a senior official with the Expo's organizing body said.

Residents and visitors can buy tickets through the Internet or simply visit sites authorized by Expo organizers, said Hong Hao, director of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination.

Organizers are also planning to put Expo tickets into tour packages for some local travel agencies, Hong said.

Tickets will not be a concern for those who are interested in Shanghai Expo and organizers will make efforts to streamline ticket sales, he pledged.

Tickets are scheduled to go on sale from September 9 this year, with the benchmark price being set at 160 yuan (US$22.5). But prices will fluctuate based on a number of factors including when you go, and whether you go in a group or on your own, organizers said.

Shanghai World Expo is scheduled to take place from May 1 to October 31, 2010. Organizers are hoping to attract 200 countries and international organizations and more than 70 million visitors to the event which has attracted 196 countries and organizations.

Meanwhile, the bureau announced yesterday that Mao Zhuchen, assistant director of the bureau's theme development department, has been selected as one of the torch carriers of Beijing Olympic Games Torch Relay.

Mao, born in October 1973, is a postgraduate in the major of Urban Planning and Development at Cambridge University.