in making the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games a success. And if not for their rescue and relief efforts following the devastating Sichuan earthquake that same year, more lives could have been lost. Today, they continue their impact by tackling our world's most pressing problems.

They are volunteers and social entrepreneurs, and they are key to China's future.

Once rare in China, volunteerism and social entrepreneurship are beginning to take shape. In large cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, volunteer programs and social-purpose organizations are sprouting. Multinational companies too are steadily joining the volunteering and social entrepreneurship wave, implementing service initiatives as part of their larger corporate citizenship programs.

Featuring a collection of true, inspirational and thought-provoking stories about volunteering and social entrepreneurship from around the world - from a young woman's journey fleeing the 1979 Iranian Revolution to starting a global volunteering platform in Europe, to a humanitarian worker's eye-opening experience teaching orphans of war at a refugee camp in Kenya - in both English and Chinese, Beyond Service will be the first guide to volunteering and social entrepreneurship of its kind in China.