Hosting an Olympic Games is not cheap. There’s all the stadium construction, the security costs, trying to keep the protesters in line, and so forth. Now, if you’re China, what are you going to do to try and recoup some of the costs?

Have an absolutely massive garage sale and make everything available, including Yao Ming’s bed, according to the L.A. TIMES’s Olympics blog.

CHINA DAILY reports that Beijing Game organizers hope to raise up to $1 billion yuan ($146 million) by selling furniture, fixtures, clocks, light bulbs, “a variety of sports equipment” and even some of the land underneath Olympic Games venues. The sale will be conducted by the China Beijing Equity Exchange, which describes itself as “the sole institution for the transfer of ownership of state-owned enterprises.”

I’m only interested in any of this if the Chinese government is willing to pay for shipping. However, the most interesting part is the 7′6″ Yao’s sleeping quarters, and sadly, the Chinese aren’t giving their greatest pro sports export any sort of royal treatment in that regard.
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