The little girl carefully pasted the card with her signature on an exhibition board. On the card the four-year-old Liang Miaozhu vowed to queue and respect order.

Liang, accompanied by her mother, was among hundreds of Beijing citizens who participated on Sunday in activities in Beijing's busy Wangfujing Street to promote the city's first "queuing day".

The 11th of every month is the promotional day for queuing up as part of a drive to improve the city's image before next year's Olympics, according to Zhang Huiguang, director of Beijing's Capital Ethic Development Office speaking earlier this month.

The number 11 is not unlike two people queuing, said Zhang. "That means that even if there are only two people they should wait in line," she explained.

Residents expressed their support for the move. "The Beijing Olympic Games is drawing near but bad behavior still exists in the city," said 63-year-old Liu Chun'e. "We should display to our foreign guests the courtesy of Chinese people."

Although netizens voiced their doubts on the Internet and large numbers of bus passengers made it difficult to keep order, Zhang noted that it was important to create an environment where such behavior was seen as shameful. "The Chinese people don't like to lose face," she said.

Before the Olympics the city is also determined to end bad habits like spitting in public and littering.

(Xinhua News Agency February 12, 2007)