Olympic organizers have discovered another use for the humble chopstick. Strangely enough, it can help produce the perfect smile as Zhang Xuan demonstrates. As the teenager bites down on the stick, positioned in her mouth like a horse's bit, the corners of her mouth turn up perfectly and eight teeth, and eight teeth only, are revealed.

The 18-year-old student has applied to become a medal presenter during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and wants to show her best face. After all, the faces of the volunteer ceremony attendants will be beamed to more than 4 billion viewers around the world.

"Smiling is a very important part of a ceremony attendant's training, and it is a different smile from the way we do it in real life," explains Xia Guohong, group leader from Beijing Senior High School for Foreign Affairs Service (BFAS).

"The standard is so strict that only eight teeth can be seen on her face - four up and four down. A chopstick is therefore adopted to help trainees feel the right measure of a smile."

Xia says there is nothing more torturing than biting on a chopstick for an hour. It leaves a trainee with numbed and miserable face, she explains.

The ceremony-training schedule also includes standing drills, which take their toll on the young recruits. Wearing a pair of high-heeled shoes, the students must put a paper sheet between their knees and balance a book on the head. The exercise corrects posture.

"No one has complained about the hardships, because everyone wants to make a perfect appearance at a ceremony next year," Xia says.

Zhang and the other 20 girls have been selected from the Olympic classes at BFAS. Even though they might not make it to the ceremony, they will still have an opportunity to work as an Olympic attendant at Beijing Hotel, which will accommodate officers from the International Olympic Committee next August.

Five Olympic classes made up of 180 students, half of whom are girls, began last month. Aged between 16 and 18, the students were selected from more than 500 candidates. Height is the primary prerequisite. Girls must be more than 1.65m-tall, while boys must stand above 1.72m. Good cooperation and communication skills are also a must for the volunteers.

Students of the Olympic classes learn to properly set a table for a formal meal.(photo: China Daily)

The teaching programs of the special classes are divided into two sections: Literature education and various skills training, which involves everything from setting a table for a formal meal to making cocktails. "To become qualified attendants, they must remember to never put their noses into customers' business and talk about it," says vice-principal Guo Dijun.

"They should be blind to what they see in the hotel and dumb to it when they are off work. This is what we stress to our students."

Guo reveals the biggest obstacle facing the students is their oral English.

"They are accustomed to memorizing what they learn in the class, but it's not enough; they must speak to people," she says.

More hours have been added to the English-teaching program, accounting for nearly one-third of all courses. Japanese-language classes have also just opened, involving about two hours per week.

In the school's gymnasium, eight students dressed in navy-blue suits are practicing how to greet guests. All the girls wear their long hair in neat buns, while boys don red neckties.

Thanks to the training, the teenagers are developing an eye for detail - even for the simple move of extending an arm for a handshake. The hosts ensure they keep a fist-wide space under their armpits, as requested by their trainers, because it keeps their arm straight. They behave in such mature and professional ways, and only their childish smiles reveal their actual age.

"They look no different than any adult attendant, but in fact, they are short of stamina," says Zhu Rongrong, figure trainer at BFAS.

"It will be challenging for them to carry themselves well after working long hours under great pressure next August.

"I think it is necessary to teach them yoga to strengthen their tolerance and self-discipline."

Zhang Xuan has gotten used to high-heeled shoes, which every girl is required to wear. The slender girl says the intensive ceremony training in Changping District this summer required her to wear high-heels, which gave her blisters on each toe. She nearly cried from pain when taking her shoes off .

"I desperately looked for any chance to get injured at first, so I could abandon the program with a good excuse," Zhang says.

"But when I looked around, no one intended to quit. If they could move on, so could I."

"It will be my honor to work for the Olympic Games, and, moreover, I can find a better job based on the special working experience."

Zhao Wei is concentrating on making cocktails in the school bar. The 17-year-old is very dexterous with his hands and works neatly to produce a concoction named the Olympic Five Rings. The drink contains five different colored layers in a glass, representing the Olympic rings' red, yellow, blue, green and black. In addition, the boy has invented three kinds of cocktails related to the Games, and he doesn't even drink.

"I cannot drink alcohol because of my age. I must thank my parents, who love to taste whatever I make and give me feedback," Zhao says.

"But I will reach 18 next year so that it will be legal for me to work in a hotel bar. Actually, I cannot wait for the guests to try my inventions," he says proudly.

According to Guo, about 140 students from the Olympic classes will pass the final selection to work for Beijing Hotel.

They will start their jobs early next year to familiarize themselves with the new working environments. Many of them will work in the catering and guest room departments.

The surge of international tourists expected for Beijing 2008 has required more services not only on the ground but also in the air.

Last month Air China announced it was recruiting 300 Olympic airline attendants from all over the country. In addition to the conventional standards, good oral English and communication skills were must-haves.

"We used to just employ new college graduates. Now, we have expanded the recruitment by lifting the limits," says Wang Xiaolun, manager of Air China's cabin service department.

Air China has already selected 200 attendants - 159 from 1,500 candidates in Beijing and 49 from 600 from Sichuan Province.

The nationwide selection will also take place in Shanghai and Guangzhou in the following weeks, and would close by the end of this month.

The successful candidates will participate in a three-month training program before starting their new jobs, and the top 80 will serve on key air routes during the Games.

"English is a focal point in their training. In addition to that, general knowledge about the Olympic Games as well as the Special Olympics will be added to their classes," Wang says.

Insiders estimate that about 100,000 volunteers would be required for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, including 30,000 for the Special Olympics.

(China Daily December 11, 2007)