About 160,000 people will attend the Olympic opening ceremony on Friday, said a Beijing city government official in Beijing on Monday.

About 70,000 will be guests, VIPs, athletes and actors performing at the ceremony and the remaining 90,000 will be the audience, staff and volunteers, said Zhou Zhengyu, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Committee of Communications, at a press conference.

The authorities have tested a plan to get this huge number of people in and out of the National Stadium, or Bird's Nest, he said.

The guests, athletes and artists will take chartered buses and the audiences will take public buses and the metro.

Staff and volunteers will begin working at the Bird's Nest on Friday morning. The stadium and whole Olympic core area will formally open to the public from 4:00 PM Friday.

"The rush hours will be from 4:00 PM to 8: 00 PM and after the ceremony," Zhou said.

The two rehearsals on July 30 and Aug. 2 tested the plan and proved it to be effective, he said. "We will improve it according to real situations."

According to Zhou, 28 direct non-stop bus routes will link the Olympic core area to the rest of the city while 48 regular bus routes and three metro lines also connect the area with the city.

When the third rehearsal is held on Tuesday, the government plans to add 40 stops along the 28 direct bus routes and extend the operation time of metro lines, according to audience requests, Zhou said.

On Friday evening, all metro lines will operate round the clock, except that linking the airport.

"We are confident of providing good traffic service to the Olympic opening," Zhou said.

(Xinhua News Agency August 4, 2008)