MEET April Yang - Visit York's latest recruit as it seeks to extend a welcome to the city's growing number of Chinese tourists.

April, a student at the University of York, has volunteered to meet and greet Chinese visitors, and tell them in their native language what the city has to offer visitors.

Her arrival comes after the tourism organisation published its first guide book written in Mandarin, the most commonly spoken Chinese language.

Visit York spokeswoman Kay Hyde said that ten years ago, Chinese tourists came 19th in a list of overseas visiting the city, but they were now 10th, with numbers continuing to grow steadily.

She said Visit York recently sent a delegate, marketing manager Michelle Brown, to a trade mission in China, meeting tour operators to encourage them to put York in their travel itineraries and brochures.

Ms Hyde said it was 'fantastic' to have a Chinese-speaking volunteers to assist with meeting and greeting tourists from China when they called in at the Visitor Centre in Museum Street.

"To have someone who is Chinese who can help fill a gap in our service is superb for us," she said.

April, who is spending 12 months at the university, said she had been busily visiting the city's main attractions so she knew what to recommend to tourists.

She said the most popular attractions for Chinese tourists seemed to be the Minster, York's Chocolate Story, the York Dungeon and Betty's tearooms.

Here is a section from the new Chinese guidebook about York's Chocolate Story, with a translation provided by April: "Visitors can experience sweet life in York by visiting this famous chocolate attraction. As well as learning all about York’s chocolate story, they can also learn more about the whole process of chocolate making."