HUGE demand for the second batch of Beijing Olympics tickets overwhelmed the booking system, jammed telephone lines and caused lengthy queues when sales opened yesterday morning.

There were eight million hits on the ticketing Website in the first hour and two million telephone calls were received, organizers said.

"Because of the huge number of hits, our system has been slow and people can't get on to it," said a statement on the Games' official Website (www.beijing2008.cn).

"We are making efforts to improve the system and suggest subscribers remain patient and try later."

This was the first chance Chinese had to guarantee they got the seats they wanted after the first 1.6 million of the seven million tickets being sold were allocated in a lottery earlier this year.

Beijingers started gathering outside the designated 1,000 branches of the Bank of China up to six hours before the 1.85 million tickets went on sale at 9am.

Cheng Qiang eschewed the chance to book online or by telephone and at 7am on a chilly Beijing morning was first in line at a Bank of China branch opposite the Worker's Stadium, the venue for some Olympic soccer matches next August.

"When I passed the new venues under construction on my way to work, I thought I want to sit inside them and watch the Games," said the 32-year-old.

By the time sales started, Cheng had been joined by some 30 others, mainly elderly, anxious to secure their place at the world's biggest sporting event.

Li Guiqin, a 7.30am arrival and second in line, benefited from her modest shopping list and walked away with a single 600 yuan (US$80.29) ticket for the soccer final after a two-hour wait.

"Watching on television will be fine for me," she said. "But my 17-year-old son wants to be there to see it live."

Cheng eventually got his 11 tickets but soon afterwards the system crashed.

A retiree named Gu next in line already owns the hottest Games tickets - seats at the Bird's Nest stadium for the opening ceremony and the 110 meters hurdles final, where Shanghai-native Liu Xiang is expected to win gold - from the first round of sales.

An hour after the branch opened just 12 tickets were sold and those at the back of the queue were giving their phone numbers to bank staff on the promise that they would be called when their turn was near.

According to the Beijing Olympic Ticketing Center, some 9,000 tickets were sold out within two hours after the 1.85 million tickets went on sale at 9am, while the official ticketing website (www.tickets.Beijing2008.cn) saw eight million hits in the first hour.