Peking: Preprodavači karata zarađuju ogromne novce

Na pekinškim ulicama cvjeta unosan posao. Karte za ulazak na sportska borilišta dosežu cijenu i do dvjesto dolara.

Peter Mascheroni's office is in his bag.

The commodities - Olympic sports events tickets - are either on his fingertips.

Or just a phone call away.

While the Chinese government is vowing to clean up on ticket scalping, ticket sellers are visible outside of major sports venues.

Mascheroni says the business is profitable.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) PETER MASCHERONI, TICKET SELLER, SAYING:

"It's fast money, fast money and it's cash, okay? And at the end of the day, you count. You go to eat at a restaurant and you count and you are happy."

But it's still tough for fans to sometimes find the tickets they want.

Zhang Haichao is a student who came to try his luck with some basketball tickets.

He gave up because a 200 dollar ticket means the living expenses for half of his semester.

(SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin with English Translation) ZHANG HAICHAO, STUDENT, SAYING:

"Common people like us didn't have the chance to buy tickets and get into the venues at all to cheer for the Chinese teams. It's a shame."

Chinese Olympic spokesman said on Thursday that ticket scalping was illegal and the government was stepping up efforts to clean it up.

PTC:

Here, there is no need to waiting in line for three days to buy tickets.

You can buy tickets to any sports events, you can buy as many as you, as long as you have cash.

In Beijing, I'm Kitty Bu, reporting for Reuters.