Can't get to the store for official Beijing Games merchandise? Jump online.

The Beijing Olympics E-shop, www.2008eshop.cn, went live yesterday morning.

The website is officially endorsed by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), making it easy for shoppers to easily snap up their favorite mascot toy, cap or sweater.

"We have opened over 800 licensed stores up to now, but we still find it difficult to cover all the cities in the country, so we want to use the Internet to give more people opportunities to get our licensed products," Yuan Bin, director of BOCOG Marketing Department, said.

"The E-shop could reach people in some 500 cities that have no licensed stores. We hope to make it easier to meet the needs of people's increasing interests."

Shoppers can call a consultant hotline for help or purchase their goods online immediately.

Delivery of products to key cities can be delivered within two days.

The English version of the website is expected to be launched next week.

"This Olympic E-shop is the only legal website in China permitted to sell Beijing 2008 licensed products through the Internet," Yuan said.

More than 5,000 different licensed products are available.

(China Daily 07/31/2007 page4)