Six local multilingual tour guides will leave for Tibet to promote tourism to the region from April through October.

This will be the second group to visit the region since the Chinese government called last year for 100 domestic tour guides to promote tourism in the region.

"Although many guides in Tibet can speak foreign languages, such as English and Japanese, they cannot handle the high season, especially when the number of foreign visitors keeps rising," said Lin Yunli, an official at the Shanghai Tourism Administrative Commission.

The six -- three males and three females -- were chosen from dozens of tour guides representing more than 40 international travel agencies in the city. Most are proficient in several languages, including English, French, German, Japanese and Spanish.

According to Lin, the guides are under 30 and unmarried. The number of female applicants keeps rising every year.

"It is a rare chance for Shanghai tour guides to work in Tibet, where I tried to find time to pay a visit myself," said Sun Xiaojian, a 23-year-old Japanese-speaking tour guide from the Shanghai CYSTS Tours Corporation.

The young man was not recruited this year, leaving the chance to his colleague. "I was promised to go for the next round," added he in a hopeful tone.

Another colleague, Hu Yaolan, was one of six chosen last year. The 37-year-old, the only married person among those selected, said that applicants were required to undergo a strict physical exam showing they are in good health. The reasoning is that physical and mental well-being are needed to withstand Tibet's harsh weather conditions.

Looking back at his half-year experience in Tibet, Hu said it was worthwhile despite less than glamorous living conditions. "It is not a nice assignment physically, but a perfect one mentally."

The government-sponsored tourism campaign, which will last 10 years, includes more than an annual dispatch of local tour guides to Tibet: Tourism schools are being set up in the region to train even more multilingual guides.

(Shanghai Daily February 24, 2004)