A chance visit to the National Museum in Beijing 14 years ago led Zhang Peng, then a law student , to volunteer to guide children around the site. He has spent most his spare time since then acting as a guide at the museum. Zhang, 33, who is known as Brother Pengpeng to schoolchildren, spoke to Frank Tang about the motivation for his voluntary work and his decision to set up his own business in the museum industry.
What made you interested in working in museums?
I was born in a small county in west China’s Shaanxi province and seldom had the chance to go to big museums in my childhood, or develop much of an interest in them. In 2003, during the spring term of my freshman year at the China University of Political Science and Law, I went to visit the National Museum, one of Beijing’s must-see tourist attractions. It cost me 10 yuan to buy a ticket at that time and I came across a volunteer recruitment notice. When I knocked at the door of the recruitment office, I was told the application deadline had already passed and they were conducting interviews. I managed to persuade the recruitment officer to give me a chance. I got an interview immediately and was luckily chosen. My first thought was that it would be a great opportunity to learn about China’s ancient civilisation free of charge and being a volunteer was also a kind of social interaction. But after four or five years, volunteering became an indispensable part of my life. I feel a responsibility to do this work, especially after I found that children’ interest and curiosity were sometimes ruined because they don’t get much of an introduction to these topics from their parents.
How did your first tours go?
I received training from the National Museum, but was still nervous during first tours. I can clearly remember my first assignment guiding a Tang dynasty (618-907) themed exhibition tour. It took me 40 minutes to explain everything, rather than the required one hour because I forgot to introduce many important cultural relics. The National Museum has a very good, maybe China’s best, volunteer training and management programme.