Olympic Volunteer Recruitment Goes National -- china.org.cn

The campaign to recruit volunteers for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games from across the mainland began yesterday afternoon. People from 30 provinces and cities can now apply for volunteer positions via a special website (www.zgzyz.org.cn) or through provincial websites. Prospective volunteers can also call the hotline, 010-12308, for information.

The recruitment of volunteers from Beijing began last August, and over 250,000 applications have since been received.

The latest recruitment drive for volunteers was met with the same level of enthusiasm outside the capital city.

According to officials, 2,228 people from outside Beijing expressed their interest within 30 minutes of the launch.

Enrolment for people in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and overseas will start from March.

"The requirements for the volunteers from outside Beijing remain the same as the general policies for Beijing applicants," said Li Shixin, vice director of the volunteers department of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG). "All the volunteers from outside Beijing must pay their own travel costs to and from the capital city, as well as for accommodation."

General policies for applicants include being at least 16 years old (born before June 30, 1990); being able to work for more than seven days during the Games; Chinese applicants should be able to speak at least one foreign language; and those whose first language is not Chinese should be able to speak some Chinese.

According to Li, 100 volunteers will be recruited from each province, with 80 for the Olympics and 20 for the Paralympics.

It is estimated that a total of 70,000 volunteers will be needed for the Olympic Games, with another 30,000 needed for the Paralympic Games.

The volunteers will provide support in areas including guest reception, language translation, transport, security, medical services, spectator services, communications, venue operations and media operations.

BOCOG will make a final decision on the first group of recruits this August. The recruitment process will be wrapped up by May 2008.

At yesterday's ceremony, the "Chinese Volunteers, People's Olympics" campaign was also launched.

The campaign will run for two years and aims to spread the concept and spirit of the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games.

It will include training and communication activities, and contests to encourage Chinese youth and the general public to participate in the "Welcome Olympics, Upgrade Civility and Create a Sound Social Environment" campaign. Program activities will be integrated with the Olympic volunteer recruitment drive and torch relay.

(China Daily January 20, 2007)