INTERNATIONAL: With the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics just seven days away, ice-making technicians and volunteer coordinators at the Zhangjiakou competition zone in north China's Hebei province are busy wrapping up their preparation work.

On Wednesday, a group of technicians began the final ice-making process on the two ski jumping tracks of the National Ski Jumping Center. The venue is nicknamed "Snow Ruyi", as the structure resembles a traditional Chinese ornament of that name, symbolizing good fortune.

During the ski jumping competition, athletes will go down the take-off ramp and launch themselves up high. The thickness of ice crusts covering the tracks are crucial to the safety and performance of skiers during the events, with less than five millimeters of error allowed.

The technicians have said they expect to complete the ice-making process in four days.

Meanwhile, volunteer coordinators at Zhangjiakou's Guyangshu cluster, consisting of the National Ski Jumping Center, the National Cross-Country Skiing Center, and the National Biathlon Center, have welcomed the arrival of the last batches of volunteers on Tuesday.

The volunteers, including university students, will provide a wide range of services during the Winter Olympic Games from February 4-20 and Paralympic Games from March 4-13 .

Zhangjiakou has recruited some 7,000 volunteers for the upcoming Games from around 190,000 applications. More than 4,000 will be working at the venues and some 2,000 will be dispatched to various locations across the city.

As a popular ski destination, Zhangjiakou is about 180 kilometers northwest of Beijing, connected by highway and a high-speed rail line. It will stage the majority of the ski and snowboard events including freestyle, cross-country, ski jumping, Nordic combined, and biathlon.