Young people in Qingdao, a partner city of Beijing to bid for the 2008 Olympic Games, planted trees on Thursday to improve the environment and welcome the Olympics.

An activity, "Plant a tree and greet a green Olympics", was also launched by Qingdao Civil Affair Bureau on the same day to encourage youth to volunteer their services, local web site qingdaonews.com reports.

The organizers chose Funingyuan, China's only environmentally-friendly cemetery designated by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, for volunteers to plant trees.

Qingdao Civil Affair Bureau recruited ten volunteer teams in April 2007.