A tour around Shanghai's major scenic spots with English-speaking natives for company? What kind of vacation is that?

But for Chinese teenagers eager to improve their English skills and improve their teamwork, it could be just what they want.

Shanghai's leading travel agency, Spring International, has planned to launch summer camps for those who aren't already too exhausted from studying so much. Each camp will last for six days between July 7 and August 23 to coincide with youngsters' two-month summer vacation.

The teenagers will visit Shanghai's symbolic sites like the Bund, Xintiandi, People's Square and tourist attractions in the neighboring city of Suzhou. Included will be tours and lectures in English.

The camp's English-speaking tutors are mainly from Europe and the United States. Most of them have been in China for some time.

The children will also have access to bilingual guides.

Sun Wenxia, in charge of the program, said that apart from providing a good environment to learn English, the camp will aim to cultivate teamwork, often lacking among the single-child generation.

Beijing resident Liu Yuxia, the mother of a 12-year-old boy, said she planned to pay for her son to take part to help him work well with others.

"I want to give him a chance to learn how to take care of himself and also get along well with children from other places," she said.

The camp will be located at the Shanghai Eastern Caoyang Foreign Languages High School in western Shanghai's Putuo District.

The children will also be taken to the Longhua Martyrs Mausoleum to learn about China's revolutionary history.

Sun said while bilingual tour guides will focus on telling stories about Chinese history, English tutors will be asked to talk about the 60th anniversary of World War II.

There have already been inquiries from parents. Registration will start next week.

(China Daily June 23, 2005)