Shanghai municipal government yesterday designated a team of
overseas Chinese volunteers to help overcome language barriers at
the 2010 World Expo.
The volunteers -- who represent more than 10 countries including
Germany, France, Denmark, Mexico and Thailand -- will help foreign
Expo participants arrange and operate exhibitions.
"We need the help of overseas Chinese to serve the World Expo
2010," said Zhou Hong, an official with the city's overseas Chinese
affairs office.
Zhou said the city did not have many interpreters, particularly
in languages other than English, and the volunteers would make
excellent "cultural ambassadors."
Overseas Chinese societies have been asked by the government to
recruit volunteers, and in a meeting of overseas Chinese
businessmen yesterday, Vice Mayor Tang Dengjie presented a banner
to representatives of overseas Chinese.
Gong Liming, the honorary chairman of the overseas Chinese union
in Germany, said: "The language difference could be a big challenge
for the Expo."
He said overseas Chinese, with their experience with both
Chinese and foreign languages, could help overcome that
challenge.
So far, more than 100 overseas Chinese in Germany have shown an
interest in becoming volunteers.
Gong said his union would also coordinate with Chinese schools
in Germany to recruit student volunteers.
More than 400 Chinese businessmen and overseas Chinese community
leaders are in town for the two-day meeting, which ends today.
Also yesterday, Huang Yaocheng, deputy director of the Bureau of
Shanghai World Expo Coordination, said that the more than 18,000
families within the Expo site have all been relocated.
So far, 68 countries and international organizations have
confirmed their participation in the World Expo.
(Shanghai Daily September 6, 2006)