Beijing volunteers for Shanghai Expo under training

With 100 pairs of arduous hands and 100 smiling faces, the 100 Shanghai World Expo volunteers from Beijing formally began training on the morning of April 13. They will listen to ten lectures and attend two activities together in order to show the glamour of Beijing at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo.

The 100 trainees in the "training class for outstanding volunteers" from Beijing are among the first three batches of volunteers going to Shanghai. In the future, a total of seven batches of volunteers will undergo three to four training sessions, and after that, they will start to work and replace previous trainees to become volunteers at Shanghai World Expo's Beijing Pavilion. According to sources, the "training class for outstanding volunteers" will offer its trainees an all-around education, including knowledge about the World Expo, first aid and language skills, as well as traditional Beijing culture. During the training, these volunteers will receive special training on Beijing's unique and traditional culture, psychological quality and team building, all in order to show the unique glamour of Beijing volunteers at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. 　　

On the morning of April 13, the trainees experienced relaxing mutual aid services during psychological adjustment training, and completed a drawing designed for a psychological test. According to Dr. Xiong Hanzhong, who is from Beijing Normal University's School of Psychology and is in charge of the project, many trainees drew the sun which is the symbol of "positive energy." This means that the trainees generally have a positive mentality, and their heart is full of sunshine. 　　

In the training class, Meng Kunyu, who is praised as the "Beijing's most handsome policeman," drew much attention. He will go to Shanghai this May as one of the second batch of volunteers. Handsome Meng said that his knowledge, experience and service awareness that he accumulated during his work will be helpful in his volunteer work. Furthermore, Meng's excellent communication skills will become his edge over others when he is communicating with the guests at the Beijing Pavilion. 　

Among the first batch of trainees, some work in the public transport, postal and education departments, while others work in China Communist Youth League Beijing Commission, Beijing Volunteer Federation, enterprises or at the grassroots level. However, most of them are undergraduates with the number totaling 43. Among these trainees, three foreign girls are exceptionally attractive. Mancini, who comes from Florence in Italy, told the reporter that her Chinese name is Tingting, and she not only likes working as a volunteer, but also researches the history of Beijing culture. She especially likes eating the dishes Bao Du and Chao Gan. Tingting, who is 28 years old, said that foreign volunteers have the edge over Chinese counterparts in language, and they can better show an open Beijing at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. 　　

At the opening ceremony, which was held in the afternoon, Xu Yuwei, vice director of the Beijing Pavilion's Coordination Office, presented flags to representatives from the volunteers. The launch of the training class is a signal that the training stage for volunteers at Beijing Pavilion has started and the previous recruitment and selection stages are now over. Deng Yaping, Deputy Secretary of China Communist Youth League Beijing Commission, is also among the first the batch of volunteers. She revealed that the first batch of volunteers will go to Shanghai on April 17 to get familiar with their work and working process and make preparations for the formal opening of Beijing Pavilion as well as for the Beijing Week at the Shanghai World Expo, which is set to open on May 4.