Volunteers on hand to help visitors

A total of 890 volunteers, who have received training in language, reception etiquette, medical aid and other operations, will assist participants at the 2014 Tianjin Summer Davos Forum - also known as the Eighth Annual Meeting of the New Champions - that opens Wednesday.

According to the organization Tianjin Volunteer, since March, over 30,000 residents have applied to be volunteers through the organization's website, an increase of more than 10,000 people compared with the 2012 event. Most of the volunteers are students from local colleges.

To better serve guests from home and abroad, the volunteers have conducted a variety of activities to accumulate experience.

For instance, volunteers from Tianjin Foreign Studies University offered a language translation service at the city's Fifth Avenue area.

The area is the busiest cultural and commercial district in Tianjin, with hundreds of well-preserved Western-style buildings. It is a must-see place for many foreign tourists.

A seven-people team also spent more than half a month on translating restaurant menus into English.

"A clear introduction to the dishes is important to the foreign diners," said volunteer Wang Yue.

The volunteers used Chinese pinyin to mark the Chinese dish names along with English translation, for example jiaozi for dumplings and baozi for steamed buns.

"Chinese dishes have their own stories. We hope the foreign visitors not only remember the tastes, but also the unique names." said Xing Huiyuan, another volunteer.

Moreover, they cooperated with the local administrative committee to proofread and correct the English guidebooks to the area.

"The volunteers have helped turn this area into a more attractive place for foreign tourists with brand new, quality services." said Pan Qingyuan, an official of Heping district, where the avenue is located.

A special team has also been assigned to do the security for the forum.

Eight police dogs and Tianjin police patrol officers participated in an anti-hijack, hostage rescue and anti-violence exercise recently.

"All of the eight dogs passed three examinations and gained their work licenses, ready to show their talent," said an official from the Tianjin Public Security Bureau.

Lvy Shuang and Kang Jia contributed to this story

baowanxian@chinadaily.com.cn