Instructions for thousands of volunteers working at the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics have been pulled from the games' official Web   because of "inappropriate language" used to describe disabled athletes.

About 20 pages from the 200-page English-language document were unavailable online today following complaints about clumsy stereotypes used to describe the disabled.

The Chinese-language version of the text remained online and was nearly identical to the English, using essentially the same stereotypes to refer to the disabled.

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Competitor: World record title holder Britain's David Weir competes in the wheelchair men's 5000m during the China Athletics Open. He will be at the Games in September

Manual mistake: Athletes compete in the wheelchair men's 5000m during the China Athletics Open - a practice event for the Paralympic Games

It says that "paralympic athletes and disabled spectators are a special group. They have unique personalities and ways of thinking."

To handle the "Optically Disabled," the guide offers the following: "Often the optically disabled are introverted. They have deep and implicit feelings and seldom show strong emotions.

“Remember, when you communicate with optically disabled people, try not to use the world 'blind' when you meet for the first time."

On the "Physically Disabled”, the guide suggests: "Physically disabled people are often mentally healthy. They show no differences in sensation, reaction, memorization and thinking mechanisms from other people, but they might have unusual personalities because of disfigurement and disability.

"For example, some physically disabled are isolated, unsocial and introspective; they usually do not volunteer to contact people.

“They can be stubborn and controlling; they may be sensitive and struggle with trust issues. Sometimes they are overly protective of themselves, especially when they are called 'crippled' or 'paralyzed'."

The guide says volunteers should "not fuss or show unusual curiosity, and never stare at their disfigurement." It also advises volunteer to steer away from words like "cripple or lame, even if you are just joking."

Relay: Wu Cunrong, left, mayor of Hefei, receives the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games flame

China's communist government and Beijing organizers, conscious of the country's image during the Olympics, have been conducting sweeping campaigns to get citizens to wait patiently in line, stop spitting and improve their driving habits.

The volunteer manual is also loaded with behavior tips, reminding that "volunteers are ambassadors ... and will mirror and reflect China." The manual gives volunteers detailed suggesting on shaking hands, sitting, standing, and handling emergencies.

On shaking hands, the manual say: "Stretch forward the right arm naturally with a 60-degree angle between the body and arm.

“Palm should be up ... thumb is separated from the other four fingers; naturally hold the other's hand slightly for 3-5 seconds."

Zhang Qiuping, director of Beijing's Paralympic Games, did not offer an apology and attributed the problems to poor translation.

"Probably it's cultural difference and mistranslation," Zhang claimed.

"The training department and volunteer department made this training guide with the purpose of providing better service," Zhang added.

"For the problems ... that the guide used inappropriate language to describe people with disabilities, we've already asked the author to modify the relevant content."

About 1 million people have applied to work as official volunteers. About 70,000 will be used during the Augugust 8-24 Olympics, with 30,000 more being trained for the September 6-17 Paralympic Games.

Many others will work in unofficial capacities as guides at the city's bus stops and subway stations. All told, volunteers are expected to outnumber the 500,000 foreign visitors expected for the Olympics.