t 6:50 am on Feb. 3rd, three Winter Olympics volunteers, Fu Yu, Ho Ka Yu, and Kwok Lik Kwan, from Hong Kong and Macau, took a bus from the Main Media Centre (MMC) to begin their work as the dawn broke. Though their tasks varied from each other, the excitement and pride in their words are the same, for they get to participate in the Winter Olympics as volunteers. 

“Beijing is the first ‘Dual Olympic City’ in the world. It’s as if I’m time travelling in Beijing because I was a pupil watching the 2008 Olympics on TV, but now I’ve grown up to be a volunteer for the 2022 Winter Olympics.” Ho Ka Yu from the Communication University of China still recalls the Beijing 2008 Olympics vividly even though fourteen years have passed.

Starting in December 2019, volunteer recruitment for Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics received more than 1 million applications. After primary selection and training, approximately 20 thousand people volunteer for the Beijing 2022 Olympics and Paralympics in 12 areas such as international communication, competition services, media and broadcasting services, etc. The three volunteers were selected after multiple selection procedures and training, including more than 30 online training. “They mostly revolve around the basic information of the Olympics, appearance management and communication skills.”

While the three volunteers were born in Hong Kong and Macau, they have lived in the Chinese mainland for years because of their study or their family, assimilating themselves into life here over the years. Ho Ka Yu has familiarized himself with the Cantonese snacks such as Bozai Cake and Jigong Olive, whereas Fu Yu likes to wander around the 798 Art Zone because she is especially fond of the culture in Beijing. 

They work with students of colleges in Beijing from all over the nation in the Main Media Centre, who are very curious about their life. They would patiently introduce the differences they learned and sometimes even teach others students Cantonese. When comparing the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, Fu Yu said that their “similarities overweight differences. To me, they are both open and inclusive, which warms our hearts.”

The warmth continued during the Spring Festival. As the Beijing 2022 Olympics coincides with the Spring Festival of the year of tiger, the House of Volunteers holds a calligraphy event to celebrate the new year. They wrote couplets and put up Fu (福, Chinese word for “luck and fortune”) with other volunteers, bringing the New Year atmosphere into the House.

China won the first game of Beijing 2022 on Feb. 2nd in Mixed Doubles Curling. Volunteers couldn’t witness it with their own eyes as they had to stick to their posts. “Pity. Yet watching the brilliant performance of our athletes on screen gives me joy as well”, said Fu Yu. The Main Media Centre is where media services are provided. With their efforts in MMC, the performance and passion of the athletes are recorded in the media, where lies the meaning of their work: people who can’t watch live get to enjoy the sports event via media. Lik Kwan said that the Olympics is a global sports and culture event that unites the world under the Five Rings. Even though he can’t watch it live, he hopes the athletes can outperform their past and have a wonderful time during Beijing 2022. 

Born in Hong Kong and Macau, grew up in southern China, all of them are not skilled in winter sports. Ho Ka Yu still remembers the fall in her first skating experience at high school. Similarly, Kwok Lik Kwan and Fu Yu, still “beginners” today, have only skied twice.

Talking about winter sports athletes they like, Kwok Lik Kwan and Fu Yu blurt out, “I will beat the drum for all Chinese athletes.”

Ho Ka Yu particularly appreciates the ice dance pair Wang Shiyue and Liu Xinyu. “It was in 2019 when I first watched their ice dance performance, and since then, I became their big fan. Their movement is full of emotions and gives me space for imagination, like floating clouds and flowing water on the rink.”

Ho Ka Yu said that Summer Olympic Games events such as fencing and table tennis are Hong Kong’s strengths, but Hong Kong is not outstanding in winter sports due to location, climates, etc. She hopes that Beijing 2022 can attract more Hong Kong students interested in sports or Olympic Games to Chinese mainland for travelling or competition. 

As a student from Macau, Kwok Lik Kwan said, travelling between Macau and Chinese mainland, he can see Macau’s policy and location advantages. He also said that at present, “I must learn more and see more in order to bring what I have learnt back to Macau,” and make a contribution to promoting people-to-people and sports exchange between Chinese mainland and Macau.

Translated by Ma Weiguo
Reviewed by Guo Cong
School of International Studies, Sun Yat-sen University