International Volunteers for G20 Summit in Hangzhou

By Xiao Qi

International Volunteers for G20 Summit in Hangzhou

By Xiao Qi

“编外”市民志愿者 Volunteers also work across the city during G20.

During the G20 Summit which convened from September 4 to 5， 2016 in Hangzhou， a team of international volunteers worked to ensure the success of the most important international event in the city this year. The volunteers are from 14 countries such as Russia，Germany， Australia and Kazakhstan and they are from 15 higher-education institutions across the province. They all speak Chinese fuently and they manned the multiple languages response center in Hangzhou that responded to calls and inquiries from visitors from the outside world.

Though not a member state of the summit， Kazakhstan was invited to attend the biennial global meeting for the second time. As soon as learning that the Kazakhstan President Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan was going to come to Hangzhou， Dao Lang （his Chinese name）， a young man from Kazakhstan， signed up for serving as a volunteer for the summit. He saw the president from afar and didn't have the opportunity to say hello face to face， but he feels extremely happy to have been there. He hopes that the president could bring something good and beautiful from Hangzhou back home and build Kazakhstan as beautiful as Hangzhou. Dao Lang chose to come to Hangzhou for further studies because he wants to be where e-commerce fourishes. Jack Ma of Alibaba is his idol. Since his arrival in the city， he has found the beauty of Hangzhou. It is a well developed city and it has scenic attractions and it offers a comfortable life for people of all ages.

Munir from Egypt signed up to be a volunteer for the G20 after learning that President Sisi of Egypt was going to attend the event. Munir came to Hangzhou to study the history of ancient Chinese literature. He studied Germany in university in Egypt and switched to Chinese when the Chinese Department was set up in the university. He is proud to state that many Arabs came to China during the Tang and the Song and that people of today know not so much about the relationships between ancient China and ancient Arab. He wants to make contributions to enhancing the friendship and cultural exchanges between the two countries.

Students from Indonesia were most willing to make their contributions to the success of the G20 in Hangzhou， as their country is the only ASEAN member of the G20. Li Maozhe （his Chinese name） worked at the multiple languages response center.

Carolina from Peru studies in Hangzhou on a scholarship from Chinese government. She speaks Spanish and also worked at the multiple languages response center during the G20. In her early 20s，she concerns herself with international news. She says that Peru and China enjoy good relationships and that Lima has a Chinese community. She had known that Chinese love a cup of tea before she came to China. She is impressed with China's economic growth.

Tim from Australia is a star in the city's expat community. He speaks fuent Chinese and has a Chinese wife. He frst visited Hangzhou in 2007 for cultural exchanges. In 2014 he came back to study clinical medicine at Zhejiang University. Tim is the founder of a volunteer club in Hangzhou. The club has more than 100 members and many of them served as volunteers for the G20 Hangzhou. Tim started a series of video programs in March 2016 introducing the best of the West Lake to foreigners. Making the videos has enabled him to learn a lot about his second home. Tim and his colleagues at the club have organized an English learning program into communities and offce buildings and got good reception.

“The first time I was here， the city had neither Alipay nor the subway. Now Alipay and the subway are everywhere. The internet economy has turned Hangzhou into an international city and more beautiful，” he enthuses.