China Receives More than One Million Olympic Volunteer Applicants

They're young, idealistic, and ready to change the country.  Over a million young people have applied for a select 100,000 spots of the offical Olympic volunteers, and registration doesn't close until March 31st. 

Due to the incredible supply of volunteer hopefuls, the city of Beijing has added an additional 400,000 "city volunteers" who can help tourists make their way around Beijing, and over 1.2 million are ready to serve in that capacity.

The Olympic volunteer positions might be hard work, but they still come with a little more glamour than your average community service activity at a soup kitchen or nursing home.  As you can tell by the official Volunteer music video, the position of volunteer almost has a celebrity-like quality to it.  Afterall, every volunteer is a "superstar."

On Monday Zhou Hongyu, a lawmaker from Hubei Province proposed a huge monument dedicated to the Olympic volunteers, because of their dedication to the country, and the way in which volunteers "show love and care. They are always ready to help others" which he says is a key component in building a "harmonious society."

The extreme popularity of volunteerism brings up a greater question: is the surge in volunteerism due to the benevolence of China's youth, or is it simply the result of increased nationalism?  Perhaps both.

On the one hand, given the massive campaigns within China's top universities, it's impossible to believe that the sheer volume of volunteer applications is due to the goodwill from students.  Over half of the students from China's top universities, like Tsinghua and Peking University have applied for spots, which is even more impressive considering that many freshmen and seniors are automatically disqualified from the process. 

With heavy on-campus recruiting and an extensive series of tests, winning a coveted volunteer position is a huge source of pride for many.  Some have criticized the process, claiming that applicants who are children of high-ranking members of the Communist Party have an edge over the competition. 

On the other hand, the newfound status of official Olympic volunteers has also sprinkled over into other volunteer sectors.  Many prefer the more modest work of teaching young students in the countryside or helping migrant workers to the golden glow of the Olympics.

But as volunteerism continues to gain media attention, it may become increasingly commonplace in China.  Currently only 3% of Chinese volunteer, compared with 10% of citizens worldwide, and about 30-40% in developed countries. 

Within purely communist states, the government should be responsible for social welfare, since theoretically there would be no poverty or need for charity.  Interestingly, the promotion of volunteer activities isn't just promoting individual acts of community service, but also the benevolence of Chinese society in general.

Even this week, at the annual sessions of China's Congressional People's Congress and China People's Political Consultative Congress many volunteer hopefuls are already being put to work. 

With so much preparation and dedication, even if China doesn't have the best-trained athletes at the Olympics, it might just be preparing the most elite Olympic volunteers of all time.