Sights set on six months in paradise, and getting paid for it

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Published: 12:00am, 1 Mar 2009

Wang Yan, a 28-year-old Beijinger, is applying for 'the best job in the world' - having fun in the islands of the Great Barrier Reef for six months and being paid A$150,000 (HK$750,000) to do it, courtesy of Tourism Queensland. All you have to do in return is write a blog about your experiences. The names of 50 short-listed candidates from around the world will be disclosed tomorrow. Ms Wang is one of 509 Chinese candidates.

Why did you apply for this job?

One day an ex-colleague, named Kate, called me and said excitedly, 'Yan, go and see. There's a job which is perfectly designed for you!' I have a nickname - 'Amphibian'. Everybody around me knows I love the water and I love diving. Then she read the advertisement on the official website to me word by word.

My first response was 'no way'. It was too good to be true. Being paid for having fun in Australia! I didn't believe it and thought it was not a real job offer, just kind of a PR promotion. And by coincidence, the job website crashed after two days because it was overcrowded with people trying to sign in. I couldn't log on to the website, so I thought the job offer was made up. But even if it was not real, I still wanted to give it a try.

So I logged on to another website, of the Australian tourism bureau, and found a telephone number for its Shanghai office. I called and a man answered. I asked him: 'Do you know if there is a job offer on the Great Barrier Reef?' He said: 'Of course, everyone knows that.' At that moment, I started to realise it was the best thing that ever dropped into my life. Then I began to make my application video.

There were some typical Chinese elements in your video. Why did you do that?

I am very satisfied with my video. Typical Chinese! The place I shot it was Beihai, because it's a symbolic place in Beijing - old houses, small stone bridges and hutong. Do you notice the red 'Tang suit' I wore in my video? It was my wedding dress! It was the second time I put it on, after my wedding day last year.