OYC members plant trees of friendship at the Great Wall

Campers tie cards with their best wishes on the trees they plant.

(BEIJING, August 16) -- On August 15, 481 Beijing 2008 Olympic Youth Camp (OYC) members visited the Great Wall and planted 500 trees for the "forest of friendship of the world's youth."

Tomas Amos Ganda Sithole, director of IOC International Cooperation and Development Department and Hou Junshu, Yanqing county official, joined the OYC members and inaugurated the stone monument of the forest.

OYC gym team director Wang Yue presents an OYC sticker to Tomas Sithole.

OYC members are considered ambassadors of the Olympic Movement and advocates of global environmental consciousness as they come from every part of the world. In planting trees for friendship, they will attain a deeper understanding of the "One World One Dream" theme of the Beijing Olympics and further promote friendship among youth of the world.

The OYC began at the Stockholm 1912 Olympic Games. The Beijing 2008 OYC lasts from August 6 to 17 and the theme slogan is "youth create the future."

Campers pose for a group photo before the stone monument.