Volunteers train for service at horticultural exhibition

Nearly 2,000 volunteers are gearing up for the trial operation and opening ceremony of the International Horticultural Exhibition 2019 in Beijing. They will play a range of roles, from translation to giving directions and finding logistical loopholes - even simulating visitors' experiences.

The volunteers comprise the first group of the total 20,000 volunteers to be enlisted during the expo, which is set to run from April 29 to Oct 7 in Beijing, according to Dai Bin, head of the volunteer department of the expo's coordination bureau.

The opening ceremony will take place on April 28 at the Guirui Theater, the butterfly-shaped stadium in the 503-hectare expo park in Yanqing district. Multiple rehearsals and internal testing of the entire site will be rolled out with the help of the volunteers, he said.