Volunteers are always a hot topic these days, especially for the upcoming Beijing Olympics. It is not something that I hold against the volunteers but I think it is focused on too much and that they are not the only people who can and will help and then get praised. There are a lot of people on the street speaking English and other languages and willing to help. They are overshadowed by these 'official' volunteers whoes job is actually quite confined to taking place in stadiums and during matches. And not only foreign athelets need some help, but the massive amount of foreign tourists also need some assistance. And this assistance relies on us, the 'unofficial passers-by'.
Now the posters for promoting the voluntary movement have prevailed in Beijing and there is a Chinlish term on the posters as well: 'name card', ming pian (meaning business cards in English). Probably the designers/organizers think it is of Beijing Characteristic to have a Chinlish word. In this particular poster below, they have got a foreign boy to advertise the smile of the volunteers. And I have to say China, once again, uses foreigners as an entertaining and promoting tool for its own culture.
What is even worse is that the motto 'the smile of the volunteers is the best name card of Beijing' - the mian pian should be sincerity and decency, which most Chinese people don't have towards foreign people.
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