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.
Volunteers for the 2008 Beijing
Olympic Games carry fans at the Juyongguan section of the Great Wall near
Beijing October 29, 2006. Several thousand volunteers attended the
ceremony, which was titled "Smiling Beijing" ahead of the Olympic
Games.[Reuters] |
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.
