No Borders

Li Qian, a 29-year-old student from Nanjing, Jiangsu province, worked at the volleyball stadium. Her job included ticket checking, providing transport information to spectators, and helping with security checks.

Although volunteers are unpaid and usually work up to nine hours a day, Li and her colleagues are upbeat as they consider themselves lucky to be part of the event.

Li says she had worked with volunteers from Malaysia, South Korea and Singapore.

"The job can be tough because we are usually the earliest to arrive in the stadium and the last ones to leave. But still, it is a very enjoyable experience as I get to work with people from all over the world, and being helpful is a very happy feeling," she says.

Li says she is most impressed by spectators from Brazil and Poland.

"They were always hugging and cheering with each other. Their excitement literally turned the volleyball match into a football game as they made the large human waves on the seats."

Volunteer Liu Xiaoshuang, a 28-year-old Chinese, says that her 10th summer in London has turned out to be a unique one because of her participation in the London Games.

"We aslo play other roles," she says. "We are being more like the 'imagine ambassador' of the city and a supporter of the 'Green Olympics' idea."

She works at transport junctions, and public zones near the stadiums. Her job is giving directions and guiding foreign tourists in the downtown area with the highest flow of tourists.

Liu says the volunteers were told to encourage people to walk rather than drive or take the public transport.

"It only takes about 20 minutes to walk from Leicester Square to Big Ben," she says. "It's a convenient way to take a tour here."

To provide sufficient information to the tourists, Liu, a foreigner herself, has to be quite familiar with every road and path that may guide the tourists efficiently.

"Almost every Chinese student chose to stay in London this summer," says Pei Tingting, an official from London-based South Bank University. "They are either working as volunteers or watching the Games." In previous years, two-thirds of them would spent their summer vacation back in China, Pei adds.

"Our brilliant volunteers seem to be having an extraordinary impact on every one they get to meet," says Paul Deighton, chief executive of the London organizing committee.

Contact the writers at lixiang@chinadaily.com.cn and qiubo@chinadaily.com.cn.