Volunteering is a passion

gzlaser

MENG Chen, a vocational school student, goes to the Forbidden City almost every day, but never buys a 60 yuan entry ticket.

The 18-year-old actually volunteers in the famous historical site by telling visitors about the exhibits in the clock gallery. He has spent an estimated 1,000 hours there since November 2004. \"One benefit is that we can visit the palace as often as we like for free,\" Meng said.

Meng is one of 287 volunteer tour guides in the Forbidden City. Their ages range from 18 to 72, and one-third of them are university students.

They aren't considered to be staff and don't have a fixed workplace. They hang around the palace like other visitors, but with red \"volunteer\" cards pinned to their clothes.

Meng said he loves spending time in the buildings where 25 emperors spent their whole lives. \"Every brick has a story to tell,\" he said.

People who have worked in the Forbidden City for decades call themselves gugongren, literally Forbidden City People. But volunteers compare themselves to the great, great grandchildren of the most powerful old men in Chinese history. \"We keep them company and try to find out more about them,\" said Feng Xiaoxia, a third year student from Beihang University. Feng has been a volunteer for two years.

Being a volunteer means more than having fun exploring. It took Feng three months to memorize every detail of the 176 clocks in the clock gallery.

And there are frustration. Often, voluntary guides are turned down by tourists. \"Too many people are in a rush to finish sightseeing and don't have time to listen to us,\" said Shi Hui, a graduate from Peking Union Medical College.

Shi still remembers how he walked around the treasure gallery for three hours on his first day until he found a man in his 50s who was happy to listen to him.

After a while, guides are able to identify likely listeners: people who aren't part of a tour group, old people who look at everything really carefully and young well-educated couples. Then they step forward and say, \"I'm a volunteer tour guide here. Do you need any help?\"

\"It's always fun to have listeners who are interested in your new discovery,\" Shi said. He said he's planning to do some research about the pine trees in the Forbidden City. \"There must be some interesting stories there,\" he said.