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Volunteers brave Guangzhou traffic

Chris Huang

Sixty Guangzhou college students volunteered to be traffic co-ordinators and help enforce traffic rules during their summer holidays.

The volunteers underwent one month of training about road traffic safety laws, basic knowledge of traffic management and how to use the gestures police use to direct traffic. Then they hit the roads.

The volunteers worked on roads in Guangzhou's Haizhu District for two months. They found it very hard as they not only had to deal with the extreme heat and polluted air but also pedestrians who refused to obey traffic rules.

'It's very hot and I feel like a vacuum cleaner at the side of the road, breathing in all the dust and fumes,' said Chen Hongmei.

Some of the students said they were insulted while carrying out their duties.

'When I told an old lady to wait for the green light, she said she had crossed the road the way she liked her whole life. She told me to mind my own business,' said Chen Danting.

Zeng Guili said: 'Once I approached a man to ask him to wait for the green light before crossing. He ignored me and dashed across the road, then turned back and gave me a piercing stare.'

Although the students had to endure hardships, they agreed it was worth it when they received recognition from the public.

'An old man spoke highly of me when he found out I was a volunteer,' said Xiao Liyi.

Mr Zeng said a simple word of thanks from a passer-by was all he needed to get through the day.

The volunteers will make proposals to the police of ways to improve the public's awareness of traffic rules.

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