People who want to help out at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo can sign up to become volunteers starting May 1.

Foreigners, seniors and even the physically challenged can apply to take part in the World Fair, the Expo organizer said on Tuesday.

Around 70,000 volunteers will be recruited to work inside the Expo site and another 100,000 to staff more than 1,000 service centers around the city during the event, which is expected to attract 70 million visitors, Ma Chunlei, deputy director of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China's Shanghai Committee and deputy leader of the Expo volunteer recruitment team, told a press conference.

Each volunteer must agree to work at least a total of 14 days at the Expo, which starts on May 1, 2010, and will last 184 days.

Volunteers who work inside the site must be at least 18 years old, and those outside should be older than 16. There is no upper limit on age.

Volunteers must be in good health and agree to take part in training prior to their service.

Local young people are expected to make up the bulk of the volunteer team, Ma said.

Foreigners can also apply for positions, and those who can speak Chinese will be given priority.

The organizer will also recruit some physically challenged volunteers who have language skills or other abilities, according to Ma.

For the 2008 Beijing Olympics, blind people were recruited to give massages to the athletes, and other physically challenged people served as interpreters.

Volunteers who work inside the Expo site will be used as information consultants, assistant receptionists, aids for physically challenged people, event coordinators, assistant guides, interpreters, media coordinators and management assistants for volunteers.

Those who work in the outside service areas will help with information consultation, translation, emergency rescue and promoting good manners.

The organizer will provide volunteers with insurance, uniforms, equipment and meals. It will not pay for accommodation for those coming in from abroad or other provinces.

Recruitment and training will be finished in March. The organizer will provide special training for foreign volunteers, putting modules on the Internet for study abroad, Ma said.

Prospective volunteers can apply online at www.expo2010.cn, www.expovol.com, www.expo2010volunteer.cn, www.wmsh.gov.cn, and www.21campus.cn or dial 962010, the Expo hotline, starting on May 1. English service is available.

Applicants can also go to 19 sites located around the city's 18 districts and Chongming Island as well as 53 universities. Deadline for applications is December 31.

(Shanghai Daily April 22, 2009)