The Juyongguan section of the Great Wall was decorated with colors of the Olympic Ring on Sunday while the 5,300 Beijing volunteers gathered there and flashed smiles to display their readiness to serve the Olympic athletes in the 29th Olympiad.

 

 

The volunteers, comprising workers, college students, school children, farmers, teachers, public servants, artists, foreign students, old people as well as staff of foreign companies in China, were arrayed in a colorful dancing belt. Two hundred college students formed a heart-shaped pattern, which later turned to be a formation of smiling face.

 

Each of the volunteers wore a gelatinous hand ring with the inscription of the slogan "the smile of the volunteers is the best name-card of Beijing" and the symbol of the Beijing Olympic Games.

 

The event was organized by Beijing youth league, the city's volunteer association and the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG). The current hand ring is said to be a test edition, which will be modified on the basis of public opinion. On January 1 next year, the final edition will be unveiled and it is expected to be used by Games-time volunteers in 2008.

 

The Olympiad needs 70,000 Olympic Games volunteers and 30,000 Paralympic Games volunteers. Their recruitment officially stated in August and the number of applicants has already surpassed 220,000. 

 

(China Daily October 30, 2006)