The number

500 million yuan

In a post on his micro blog on Tuesday, whistle-blower Zhou Xiaoyun said two copies of network equipment purchase contracts signed by the Ministry of Railways and a computer company show the ministry has invested more than 500 million yuan ($80.4 million) in its ticketing website 12306.cn. Although the ministry has taken various measures to ease the ticket-purchasing rush, many people have still found it extremely hard to secure tickets.