Volunteers from overseas can be found nearly all over the country, especially in outlying mountainous regions or depressed areas.

"I was attracted by Oolong tea to Fujian about which I knew little before," said Tomio Haneda, with Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV).

Oolong, grown in east China's Fujian province, is very popular in Japan. Tomio loved to know more about it and he came to Fujian 13 years ago.

"I was the first foreigner then to the village, in Yong'an city, where I worked as a mechanic repairing motor vehicles," the 34-year-old volunteer said.

"I communicated and worked in cooperation with locals in a friendly way. I got a lot of help from them, so I went there again in 1996," he added.

Kathryn Blouin in her early 20s, a volunteer from Maine in the United States, is one of the members of US-China Friendship Volunteers.

"I am very pleased and so lucky to work in China, which has good public security and many cultures," said Ms. Kathryn, who nowspeaks very fluent Chinese and has learned some local dialects.

Ms. Kathryn teaches English in Dachuan city, in southwestern China's Sichuan province.

"The experience as a volunteer makes me stronger and more independent," she said.

Like many other volunteers working in China, Ms. Kathryn did not return home, even during her holidays. Instead, she invited her relatives and friends to China.

"There are so many enchanting, beautiful scenic sites in China. And Sichuan cuisines are especially delicious," Ms. Kathryn said.

According to Helen Lowman, the leader of US-China Friendship Volunteers, an increasing number of volunteers from the United States were applying to work in China. She was convinced that the number would exceed the 300 mark from the present 90.

Since the JOCV sent its first four volunteers to China in 1986, about 460 volunteers from Japan have come to work in the country.

"I think I really settle in China," said Tomio, who married a pretty Chinese girl two years ago. Enditem

(Xinhua News Agency December 7, 2002)