(BEIJING, January 1) – On the early morning of January 1, 2007, the "Smile Wristlets" for volunteers of the Beijing Olympic Games was officially unveiled in the heart of the capital city amid a rally themed "We are passing on smiles from the Drum and Bell Towers."
Before the New Year's bell was clanged, the unveiling ceremony was declared open on a square between the Towers where a 60-meter-long and 6-meter-wide "Smile Avenue" was temporarily set up.
Liu Jian, secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League of China and director of the Volunteers' Department of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) gave a definition to the official meanings of the five colors of the wristlets: Red represents readiness to help others; Yellow – civility and politeness; Black - honesty and trustworthiness; Blue - studying and forging ahead; and Green - environmental protection.
Suddenly, some 500 university volunteers around the stage turned the scene into a sea of joy, where ten large banners depicting the wristlets' meanings paraded from the Bell Tower. In his speech, Qiang Wei, vice secretary of Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and chief of the Volunteers' Work Coordination Group for the Beijing Olympic Games urged Beijing citizens to carry out the virtues of helping each other to lift the capital city's image as an advocate of civility and flash smiles to visitors and guests from around the world to attend the 29th Olympiad.
The ceremony was culminated in an art performance themed "Bring Smiles to the World" which was followed by Qiang Wei's strike of the 63-ton Bell to announce the beginning of the New Year.
