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Volunteers ready for action

By Wang Bo (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-07-04 09:38

Zhou Yuzhi got up at 6 am on Tuesday to prepare for her first day on duty as a city volunteer for the Olympics Games.

"As the stationmaster at Anzhen service station, I needed to get there early to get everything ready," the 51-year-old Zhou said.

Although it was a rainy day, Zhou and her four team members, wearing blue-and-white uniforms, were working at the temporary tourist information center outside Hua Lian Department Store in Anzhen from 9 am.

In the first day for city volunteers to be stationed for the Olympic Games, more than 200 temporary tourist information centers were set up near major tourist attractions and business districts across Beijing.

These temporary service booths, with four to eight volunteers, are located in major commercial districts like Xidan and Wangfujing, providing visitors with travel information, dealing with emergencies and translation services.

During the Games, 550 similar help centers will be opened in 18 districts and counties across Beijing. Some of them are open 24 hours a day. The city volunteer service will last for 100 days, until the end of the Paralympic Games.

At Anzhen service station, three of the five volunteers are in their 50s, but they say being a volunteer makes them feel young.

"We experience pleasure when we find that we can do something for others," 58-year-old volunteer Dong Shenghui said.

About 2.07 million people have applied to work as city volunteers for the Beijing Olympics, but there are many more people who want to join up.

"Many passersby have come to our service counter to ask if they can join us, from which you can see Chinese people's enthusiasm to serve the Olympic Games," Wang said.

"We are still short of volunteers with language specialties, so everybody is welcome to join us," said Su Yanning, one of the city volunteers, a student at the China Conservatory of Music.

For the convenience of athletes and tourists who come to Beijing during the Games, a 24-hour multi-language call center will support volunteers by communicating with those who go to the counters for help.

(China Daily 07/04/2008 page3)