The 2008 Beijing Olympic Youth Camp (OYC) concluded Wednesday at the venue, Beijing No. 101 Middle School.

Members of 2008 Beijing Olympic Youth Camp plant trees at the foot of the Great Wall August 15. [Xinhua]

More than 400 youngsters from 204 countries and regions attended the gala, the largest of its kind since the first launching of the OYC in the Stockholm Olympic Games in 1912.

The camp also invited 10 handicapped campers the first time.

"The camp is not mandatory, but the Chinese organizers have made it into the biggest and best in the Olympic camp history," said Tomas Amos Ganda Sithole, director of the International Cooperation and Development Department of the International Olympic Committee.

Members of 2008 Beijing Olympic Youth Camp pose for photo at the foot of the Great Wall August 18. [Xinhua]

The campers, one third of whom are professional athletes, visited the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the National Stadium and the Olympic Village. They also learned about various kinds of Chinese culture, including Peking Opera, Chinese Kungfu and calligraphy.

"The Chinese culture was amazing. I bought many Peking Opera DVDs and make-up. The Chinese characters are so strange that I cannot believe anyone could understand it," said Maria Jensen, 18, a Danish javelin thrower.

They also watched the Olympic opening ceremony in the Bird's Nest and watched four matches each.

"I hope I could be on the medal podium at the next Olympics in London like my compatriot," said Roman Turcani, 18, a Slovakian slalom canoeist.

They also planted trees at the foot of the Great Wall on Friday to mark their friendship.

Yuliya Banach, an Israeli swimmer, put up a card on the tree she planted. It reads in Hebrew, "no matter what we are, there should be happiness."

Every camper got a blue camper certification from Jiang Xiaoyu, executive vice president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games at 8 p.m. on the concluding ceremony.

Each of them also got a 2-centimeter-wide, 10-cm-long seal with clouds, flying dragons and their Chinese names on, a traditional Chinese gift carved by Zhang Guowei, a well-known Chinese artist.

(Xinhua News Agency August 18, 2008)