The Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), and the Beijing Olympic Games Volunteer Work Coordination Group held a ceremony to start recruiting volunteers for the Beijing 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games from provinces and cities around China, and launch a new campaign themed "Chinese Volunteers, People's Olympics."

A volunteer poses for a photo next to a volunteer's logo after a ceremony to recruit volunteers for the Beijing 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games, for provinces and cities around China, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing January 19, 2007. [Reuters]

At the ceremony, Liu Qi inaugurated the campaign by planting a special seedling decorated with the Olympic Volunteer logo into soil composed of five colors, which represented China.

The seedling also represented the Olympic motto of "Higher, Faster, and Stronger" and the volunteer spirit of "dedication, friendship, mutual help and progress." Chen Zhili launched the online application system for the volunteer recruitment drive in Chinese provinces and cities.

Hu Chunhua, First Secretary of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League delivered a speech about "Chinese volunteers, People's Olympics." Qiang Wei, head of the Beijing Olympic Games Volunteer Work Coordination Group and deputy secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the CPC, introduced the volunteer program for the Beijing 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Volunteers will be recruited over several phases from 30 provinces and cities around China. Starting today, candidates may visit the Chinese volunteer website (www.zgzyz.org.cn) or other designated provincial websites for information and application procedures. Individuals may also call the hotline, 010-12308, for more information.

Lasting over a period of two years, the "Chinese volunteers, People's Olympics" program will include training and communication activities, practices and contests to encourage Chinese youth and the general public to participate in the social campaign, "Welcome Olympics, Upgrade Civility, and Create a Sound Social Environment."

The program also aims to spread the concepts of "Green Olympics, High-tech Olympics and People's Olympics" and the spirit of the Beijing Paralympic Games. Program activities will be integrated with the Beijing Olympic volunteer recruitment drive and the Torch Relay. .

Volunteers are being recruited to support Games-time functional areas including guest reception, language translation, transportation, security, medical services, spectator services, communications, venue operations, media operations, cultural activities and other areas designated by BOCOG.

A university choir also performed songs about volunteerism at the ceremony. Renowned volunteers such as Feng Ai, shared their personal experiences as volunteers. To express the volunteers' love and good will for the Beijing Olympic Games, volunteers also used sign language to perform the song, Smiling Beijing.