Tour Guide - Waldner Zhang

Hello, everyone:

I’m Waldner Zhang from Xi'an. First let me tell you something about myself. I’m a 30 years old good-looking boy, and being an English tour guide is my full-time job. I graduated from Xi'an Fanyi (Translator’s) University in 2003, so no doubt my English capability is wonderful. I have been a guide for sever years, and I enjoy working with TravelChinaGuide.

Since you barely know anything about me, so I’d like to start with my hobbies. You may know a famous Swedish table tennis player named Waldner, who competed with 6 generations of Chinese national players. The Chinese pingpong athletes all honored him as an “evergreen tree” in the table tennis world. My favorite thing is playing table tennis, but since I got to do my job as a guide, I don’t have much time to play during my 8 month peak season. During our winter time (the off season), I play a lot. So once we got a chance, let’s fight :-)

Concerning my job, most Chinese still think that a guide is just a servant who takes his clients to visit different places and also travels a lot. Actually, that is a very unreal life, and I really don’t agree. Firstly, you have to love what you’re doing, although sometimes it’s boring (suppose you visit the terra-cotta warriors 100 times a year), but I love to work outdoors, so this is a very nice job for me. Secondly, you need to know what you’re doing. As a tour guide you’re a teacher for your clients. You need to tell them about not only the attractions, but also some related information about Chinese culture and history. In addition, you need to be a host to take care of everything of your clients during their stay.

As I remembered, last year I had a tour group of eight people (including two children and one baby). They came from Germany. You know some Germans are famous for their high criteria about everything; especially one point - you need to be punctual. At the very beginning, they thought I was nothing but just a common guide. During their three days’ visit to Xi'an, I gave them a lot of information and many jokes at the same time. I helped them take care of their children, especially the baby, in order to avoid losing them. Finally, they regarded me as a member of their family and highly appreciated my service!

All in all, this is a pretty challenging job. Do what you can to help your clients. That is my pursuit!