Rush hour for expo volunteers

Volunteers young and old swamped Beijing during the Olympics but they will virtually over-run Shanghai at next year's expo as the city is calling on 1.2 million people to patrol the streets and oversee the manufacturing sector, three times the number needed last summer.

Wearing orange jackets and conspicuous armbands, the Shanghai Ping'an Volunteers will serve a range of roles including apprehending queue-jumpers, giving directions and generally maintaining law, order and "face" on behalf of the hosts. Ping'an is mandarin Chinese for security.

Another group, the Industry Ping'an Volunteers, will stand on the frontline of the manufacturing sector to prevent food safety transgressions and other accidents from arising during the production process. Many of the volunteers will be retirees.