A group of nearly 300 volunteers from the US, the UK and Australia are in Beijing to help 80,000 Chinese volunteers during the Olympics.

A group of nearly 300 volunteers from the US, the UK and Australia are in Beijing to help 80,000 Chinese volunteers during the Olympics.(CCTV.com)

The newly-arrived volunteers will work for the Olympic News Service, which is responsible for providing the media with comprehensive Games information, such as athlete biographies and flash quotes.

Their multi-lingual and multi-cultural backgrounds should prove to be valuable assets. Beijing Olympic organizers will give them on-site training to help them integrate into the larger volunteer family.

Domestic volunteers from outside Beijing have also started to arrive in the capital.

Meanwhile, domestic volunteers from outside Beijing have also started to arrive in the capital.

In Tsingtao, a team of 160 volunteers are among the lucky few chosen for the Olympic sailing events.

Organizers say they've gone through a gruelling selection process.

 Liu Xiaohu, Volunteers Dept., Tsingtao Olympic Committee (CCTV.com)

Liu Xiaohu, Volunteers Dept., Tsingtao Olympic Committee, said, "These volunteers have undergone a two-year training and selection process. In the beginning, they got sea sickness the whole time. We trained them to work on boats for up to 12 hours at a time, sometimes in 40-degree Celsius heat."

In Hong Kong, volunteers for the Equestrian events are also getting ready to serve and assist the world's finest riders.(CCTV.com)

In Hong Kong, volunteers for the Equestrian events are also getting ready to serve and assist the world's finest riders. As well as learning all about the sport, they've even been taught how to ride a horse.

(CCTV July 15, 2008)