Chen Tingjun is hoping Beijing and Zhangjiakou's joint bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics succeeds so he can acquire more memories to go alongside his recollections of the 2008 Olympic Games.

"I will be 76 years old in 2022," the retired army general said. "I believe I will still be healthy and strong enough to take part in voluntary work if the Winter Games are held in Beijing and Zhangjiakou, just as I did at the 2008 Games."

The 69-year-old was a torchbearer as well as a volunteer in 2008. In 2005, when Chen had just retired as a troop commander, he read in a newspaper that the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games was looking for volunteers to assist in the lead-up to the event. He applied right away.