A girl with a writing textbook for IELTS attends the China International Education Exhibition in March. CHINA DAILY

Young bilingual workers in constant demand as firms rush to provide tourism services in Guilin

For many young Chinese people who studied or spent some time abroad, one of the easiest ways to become one's own boss is to launch an English language teaching facility.

This also goes along with the nation's continuing opening-up, said Wang Mingyu, director of the Guilin campus of Global Education and Technology, which has franchise campuses in many cities on the Chinese mainland.

Wang's campus is based in Guilin, the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. The city, well-known for its picturesque landscape in southwestern China, has an ambition to grow into one of the country's key tourism destinations.

Young bilingual workers are in constant demand from the cities' many tourism services. Those with internationally recognized testing scores, such as IELTS, can find better jobs than those without, Wang said.

As a result of the city's daily exposure to overseas tourists, its young people also yearn for opportunities to study and travel abroad. Wang herself was an early example.

A psychology major, she toured Europe before she decided to come home to run a school as an alternative to the country's education system.

Having started her institute in 2009, Wang can now regard herself as somewhat of a veteran in the industry, as well as a role model for people like her.

During her school's busiest time, the number of students can reach the hundreds.

A lot of attention, she said, is paid to various experimental educational programs she designed, such as a program to prepare Chinese students for independent living and studying overseas.

"We divide the students according to their maturity and the ability they demonstrate. We don't want the students to be watched by their parents," she said.

Such programs take a lot of energy and care, Wang said. But "they give you a real feeling of success, especially when you appreciate the changes we help the students make".