Beijing started on Friday to solicit slogans for its volunteer
program for the 2008 Olympics.
The deadline is August 31, 2006, said the Beijing Olympic
Organizing Committee (BOCOG).
"The slogan should be in line with the concept of Beijing
Olympic volunteer program -- 'service first harmony first' and
highlighting the striking features of the times and the Chinese
culture," Wang Minghao, an official in charge of the Olympic
volunteer program, told a press conference on Friday.
"It should also reflect the idea that volunteers' smiles are the
best name card of Beijing, carry an international perspective so
that people from different countries and regions and of different
cultural backgrounds can understand it.
"And it should be brief, rhythmic, easy to remember, inspiring
and appealing," he added.
About 100,000 volunteers will serve the 2008 Olympics and
Paralympics.
Beijing launched its Olympic volunteer program last June but the
recruitment process will not get underway until August this
year.
(Xinhua News Agency March 31, 2006)