Packaged attractively by China International Television Corporation (CITVC), the commercial arm of China's state broadcaster, the DVDs went on sale about two weeks ago.

Shops report customers buying as many as 10 copies each.

At Y-Vision & Music in Raffles Place and Tanjong Pagar, some 40 copies were sold in two weeks for between $12.95 and $13.95 each. Salesman Alan Yap said most titles usually sell five to 10 copies in the same period.

Celebrity Music in Bras Basah has logged more than 1,000 sales at $16 a copy in two weeks. It had received orders of up to 100 DVDs before they went on sale. Retiree Sun Yit Min, 58, called to book five copies a day after the Games' opening ceremony on Aug 8. He kept one and gave the rest to his siblings and friends.

'China is finally making waves in the international scene. I was very moved and very proud when I watched the ceremony,' he said.

He watched the four-hour opening ceremony on TV twice and three times on DVD. He said he didn't even hit the forward button during the duller segments like the contingents' march-in.

'One thing good about the DVD is that it has Chinese narration. When they introduce the athletes, they really go into detail like their background. They also explain the history and culture very well,' he added.

The CITVC DVD has commentaries in English and Mandarin while the MediaCorp telecast from Television New Zealand had only English commentary.

That helps explain why many customers are middle-aged Chinese-educated Singaporeans, said sales manager Flosy Goh of Celebrity Music.

Some people think the DVD will make a good memento. Said chef Chen Kwee Hock, 56: 'It's something that you can keep for life and it will be worth a lot in the future.'

Cheaper copies of the DVD are now available. Retail chain Video Ezy brought in the DVD four days ago and operations executive Leon Quah expects to sell 300 copies at $12.90 each over the next month.

Even younger net-savvy folks want in on the action. Said aircraft engineer Collin Chan, 31: 'Downloading will take a very long time. It's once in a lifetime that China gets to host and you won't get such an outstanding feat again.'

graciac@sph.com.sg

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