At the closing ceremony of the recently-concluded Beijing Olympics, Cao Dongmei, 30, an employee of Beijing Subway, was given a bouquet of flowers by Alexander Popov, a Russian swimming legend and member of the International Olympic Committee's Athletes' Commission.

After leaving the Bird's Nest, Cao did not rush back home to share her happiness with her husband, but instead made her way to the Beitucheng subway station to meet her colleagues.

As she got off the train, she was mobbed by her colleagues and cheered heartily.

"It belongs to every one of us, thank you for all your hard work and brilliant service," Cao said, handing the flowers to her colleagues.

They then resumed their work at the station. Just like on the day of the opening ceremony, they finished only when the last passenger had left that night.

Cao has worked at the Beijing Subway Managing Co Ltd for 10 years. During the Games, she was put in charge of managing 20,000 volunteers at 123 subway stations in Beijing.

Cao began preparations for the work of volunteers at the subway in 2004. "The subway has emerged as the most important means of public transport in Beijing," says Cao. "We knew that running it smoothly would not be easy."

The 20,000 volunteers, half of them Beijing Subway employees and half students from 28 universities in Beijing, received professional training for their jobs.

On Aug 8, when most Chinese stayed at home and watched the Opening Ceremony, Cao and her colleagues were facing their busiest day.

Beitucheng station is the transfer station between Line 10 and the Olympic Line, which leads to the Bird's Nest. It saw peak passenger flow on that day.

Cao joined 80 volunteers to begin work at 7 am, providing information and handling the huge passenger flow, which reached 10,000 persons per hour during peak hours.

When the Opening Ceremony ended, people rushed into the station. In order to lead the crowds to the right transfer platform, Cao and the volunteers linked hands to form a wall, and kept shouting: "Passengers transfer to Line 10, please walk on both sides of the platform!"

As Cao saw the commuters pass by, she could sense from their excited faces that the ceremony had been a splendid one.

When Cao and the volunteers saw their last passenger out of the station, it was 3 am. By then, their throats were dry.

"It is a pity we missed the live broadcast, but we are proud to have worked for the ceremony's success," Cao says.

Over the past two weeks, Cao has inspected every subway station to ensure the volunteers have enough support at work.

According to Cao, 95 percent of the Olympic subway volunteers now work for the Paralympics.

A week before the opening of the Paralympics, they had already begun handing out booklets carrying instructions on the use of the disability-friendly facilities at every subway station.

(China Daily 09/08/2008 page8)