Tickets for 2011 Xi'an World Horticultural Expo will be available from October with a 15 percent discount from appointed agents, said Wang Jun, vice chairman of the expo's executive committee at a press conference held on Friday.

"The advance selling period would last to March 31, 2011. After that the tickets will be sold at regular prices," said Wang.

Just like the Shanghai Expo, tickets are divided into ordinary-day tickets, special-day tickets and night tickets, sold at 100, 150 and 60 yuan respectively.

The 22 "special days" refer to the first three days after opening, last three days before closing and holidays such as the Labor Day, Mid-autumn Festival, the National Day and the Dragon Boat Festival which are expected to draw large numbers of visitors.

"We set the varied ticket system to limit the number of visitors on holidays, for even though the expo site covers 418 hectares, we still have to restrict the number of visitors in order to guarantee a comfortable and safe visiting environment," said Wang.

Tickets would be sold at 80 yuan from Monday to Friday, 20 less than the regular price, encouraging visitors to avoid the crowd at weekends and visit the site on weekdays.

Special groups including seniors aged from 60 to 70, students and soldiers would get a 30 percent off. Admission for seniors above 70, the disabled and children less than 1.2 m in height enter for free.

In addition, over 80,000 tickets would be delivered to model workers, nurses and teachers on their holidays.

Agreements between the expo organizing committee and its cooperative partners including the ticket printer, agents, sponsors and commercial good manufacturers were also signed during the press conference.

Opening on April 28 and closing on October 22 next year, Xi'an World Horticultural Expo will be China's largest international activity in 2011 with the longest duration.