Anchor:
For the nearly 30 million registered volunteers in China, this year's International Volunteer Day is a special one. Their outstanding contributions to the relief for the May 12 earthquake and the success of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games has left a deep impression on the world. CRI reporter Shuang Feng has more.

Reporter:
In the past year, the extraordinary contributions of Chinese volunteers have been seen everywhere, from responding to the May 12 earthquake to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

After the devastating earthquake hit southwest China's Sichuan Province, more than one million volunteers plunged into relief work within days. They went all out to save the victims, provide psychological counseling and donate money and materials.

Wang Bing is a student from Peking University. He said his volunteer experience in Sichuan is precious to him.

"I think it's an unforgettable experience. We shared our love and true feelings there. Since then, I have begun to fall in love with volunteer work, which enriches my life, enlightens me and brings me spiritual wealth."

During the Olympic and Paralympic games in Beijing, a total of 1.7 million volunteers were busy ensuring the success of the two sporting events.

Zhanghua, a professor at China Youth University for Political Science, said these volunteers show people what the volunteer spirit is about through their actions.

"The spirit of volunteerism featuring altruism and charity is a social concept held by individuals or groups who are willing to help others and improve society without pay."

The spirit of Chinese volunteers not only touched Chinese people, but also generated worldwide attention.

The New York Times described Chinese volunteers as young, promising, proud and patriotic.

Brat Johansson, who is working in the Chinese office of a British volunteer service center, said Chinese volunteers are the best he has ever seen.

"Right now, China's just gained more and more volunteers. And via the past,you can see how good they were doing in the earthquake and the Olympics. I believe that China is going to have more and more volunteers, especially the youth."

Official statistics show that China has accumulated about 8 billion hours of volunteer work from 380 million volunteers since 1993.

Shuang Feng, CRI News.