When Zhi Lijiang first signed up to be an Olympic volunteer for the 2008 Beijing Games, she could hardly have imagined she would be playing the role of a Canadian tourist in English and etiquette classes.
The classes are all part of Beijing's effort to get its population to speak English to welcome the millions of foreigners expected to flood to the city in this Olympic year.
Worried that its citizens' notoriously poor command of the language will embarrass the country and lead to unfortunate misunderstandings, the Chinese government has embarked on a massive programme to teach the population basic English.
Some of the preparations, though, can look a little odd to foreigners.
Dressed up in a big blond wig, sunglasses, gold earrings and silk scarf, Zhi, 63, pretends to be a Canadian tourist while her classmates take turns talking with her.
"I am from Canada. This is my first time to China," she intones in a thick Beijing accent.
"Welcome to Beijing, the host city of the 2008 Olympic Games," another replies to her, standing in the front of the classroom.
Zhi rehearses three times a week with a class of over 100 citizens, all over the age of 50, to practise English phrases and etiquette to help foreign guests visiting Beijing for the Games.
Zhi and her friends all live in Beijing's Dongsi Olympic Community, the only one of its kind in the city, not far from the Forbidden City. By teaching the residents English, it's expected they might be able to give directions to lost tourists.
The neighbourhood of traditional courtyards and alleyways was specially renamed for the Games, and is what the organisers hope will become a model for other parts of the city during the Olympics.
OLYMPIC DRIVE
The oldest couple in the classroom are Lu Baoli and Wang Xiuqin, aged 72 and 65, who have lived just around the corner from the classroom for most of their lives.
They attend a two-hour class every Saturday and attend an English corner and salon every Wednesday.
"I recommend visiting the Great Wall; it is one of the Seven Wonders of the World," Wang patiently teaches her husband Lu out of a government-issued manual.
Lu struggles to follow.
"I cannot remember the words sometimes, I am too stupid," he adds bashfully.
