Volunteers selected to serve at a series of test sports events over the coming months to check Beijing's preparations for the upcoming 2008 Olympic Games were sworn in at a local park in Beijing on Thursday.

Some 400 volunteers, most of whom are undergraduates, participated in a ceremony marking the launch of the voluntary services for the Beijing Olympics at Chaoyang Park, which will host beach volleyball games during the Olympics.

More than 25 sport tournaments are planned before the 29th Olympiad commences on August 8, 2008 to ensure staff at Olympic facilities and related departments accumulate enough experience and fine tune any problems.

Volunteers pose with a victory gesture at the ceremony at Chaoyang Park in Beijing on Thursday, August 2, 2007.

Volunteers display commemorative brochures marking the launch of the voluntary service for the Beijing Olympics at Chaoyang Park in Beijing on Thursday, August 2, 2007.

(CRIENGLISH.com, Xinhua News Agency August 4, 2007)