Language assistance

Beijing has followed the Olympic norms to provide free media buses, and equipped the fleet with nearly 2,000 language assistants -- volunteers from 12 Beijing-based universities who are able to speak at least one foreign language: English.

The students, aged between 18 and 21, work as guides, interpreters as well as assistants to drivers and traffic police officers.

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About 1,700 of them commute on the buses, doing interpretation for the drivers and fleet coordinators and answering journalists' questions. The rest help traffic police officers on the road -- pointing ways to bus drivers and pedestrians near the MPC/IBC.

Wei Donghui from south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region felt her job was "very important".

"Most people are new in this area, as you know," she said of the media buses' parking lot across the street from the IBC. "My job is to tell journalists where to catch their buses and show the bus drivers which lanes to take and where to park."

The engineering major from Beijing-based Communication University of China is new herself in this area -- she's in Beijing for a year but never visited the Olympic area before she became a volunteer. When no one at sight needs help, she would peruse a map in her hand trying to remember all the places.

"I'll be here until the end of August... no chance to go home this year," she said. "But it's worthwhile to do something for the Games -- and my parents said they were proud of me, too."

Making way for the Games

To avoid congestions over the Games, Beijing has sealed off a long fleet of government vehicles and halved the number of private cars on its roads by banning cars with odd-even numbers on alternate days.

Meanwhile, special lanes painted with the Olympic logo have been earmarked on key roads. The 285.7-km lanes will be reserved for Games vehicles until September 20 and drivers of non-authorized vehicles will face a fine if they drive onto these lanes.