BEIJING OLYMPICS - Getting tickets and a room

Although the 2008 Summer Olympics, being held in Beijing from Aug. 8 until Aug. 24, are still a full year away, making plans to attend the games has already come down to a roulettelike gamble of hurry-up-and-wait, with choices narrowing as time goes by. The most important task is securing tickets, which can be difficult. Only a certain number of tickets are allocated to each country, and direct ticket-buying in each is only available to local residents. Unfortunately, the cutoff date for entering the lottery to reserve the exact tickets you want was June 30. But, though there are few guarantees of actually scoring a seat, there are other options if you're willing to compromise on price or on which events you attend.