They spoke mostly in English - with various accents - and sometimes in broken Mandarin.

The Chinese scalping fraternity was of a similar size to the international group and had an equally diverse membership, with accents from across China clearly heard.

The difference between the two, it seemed, was that the foreigners had access to the really big spenders.

"We can't beat them because we can't speak a foreign language," a scalper with the surname Liu from Xi'an, Shaanxi province, said.

"But we just don't know how they manage to get so many tickets."

Ticket scalping is illegal in China, and BOCOG, the Games organizers, has introduced a number of measures to try and stop the traders.

Recently, police arrested a group of Chinese scalpers right in front of their foreign counterparts, Liu said.

"The police don't care about the foreigners, but they keep a close eye on us," he said.

A police officer on patrol near Beitucheng, who refused to give his name, said most of the people in the area were just "swapping tickets or selling them at a reasonable price".

Shortly after, a China Daily reporter was approached by a Chinese couple touting a pair of tickets for a finals day at the Bird's Nest for the very unreasonable price of 5,000 yuan.

Despite that, local media reported recently that Beijing police authorities are screening all information posted on the websites 263.com and 58.com, whose forums are frequented by local scalpers.

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