BEIJING, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Tickets for next month's Beijing Paralympics began on-site sales on Friday at Bank of China's outlets in Beijing and Qingdao.

From Friday to Sept. 17, the public can buy the tickets at 30 outlets in Beijing and two in Qingdao, the site of the sailing Paralympics'.

A total of 800,000 tickets for the Paralympics, to be held on Sept. 6 -17, will be sold to the public. From June 20 to Thursday, 50,000 tickets had been sold via the Internet bookings, according to the Beijing Olympics Ticketing Center.

Zhu Yan, director of the center, said the Paralympics tickets are sold at low prices of 30 yuan to 80 yuan (4.3 to 11.6 U.S. dollars) to encourage the participation of the public.

"I want to feel the atmosphere at the scene, because all the disabled athletes are so strong and courageous," said Sun Hongjun, a Beijing resident who bought one swimming ticket and two for field events at a Bank of China branch in Beijing's Changchunjie.

A clerk at the branch said the branch had sold more than 500 tickets in a little over three hours. Enditem