A survey by Chengdu Commercial Daily exposed a speculation about profiteering by some greedy summer camp organizers who made a killing from teenagers and their families.

"Fate can be changed in seven days" and "the future leader is among you." These slogans are used to lure prospective campers, offering up a big promise with a big price of up to 30,000 yuan.

The survey was conducted in Chengdu City where more than 50 for-profit summer camps were advertised on TV and newspapers with alluring promises of high quality independent and outdoor education.

Featuring a wide variety of specialized activities, summer camps, originated in the United States, were created to let children take healthy risks in a safe and nurturing environment.

But the commercialized summer camps of recent years have gone sour and drifted far from their original intended purpose.

Money that should have been spent on quality summer camp education and activities has instead been spent on heavy advertising to gain the attention of parents.

Summer camper Liu Minyao felt disappointed about her 15-day camp in the United States. She registered for an International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) camp organized by a local camp organizer who promised an overseas trip to share with others an IMO experience, but "I found it was nothing different than a cursory sightseeing package tour, and it cost more than 30,000 yuan (US$4428)."

Summer camp programs in China include language learning, military training, mathematics and weight loss with prices ranging from 1,000 to 35, 000 yuan.

To improve her grades, Minjia, a high school junior,, attended a 10-day camp this June to practice English, mathematics and physics.

"I expected it to be mind-opening and full of fun, but it turned to be cut-and-dried with routine practice I'd leaned during school," she said. "I had to hold on until the end, because my parents had paid 1,500 yuan for it."

Some kids were found bragging to others during camp days about their family's wealth.

An 8-year-old boy sneered at an old visiting professor, for he drove a cheap Alto to the camp. He then proudly enumerated upon his mother's 300,000-yuan BMW.

Lei Shifeng, principal of Chengdu Zhengguang Qualification Training Base, said that could the problem could be blamed on the decrease of non-profit summer camps, which lag behind the public demand.

For added security, the Chinese government strengthened the regulations of summer camps in 2000 and made regulations for extra-school activities more stringent, which boosted the commercialized camp market with arbitrary charges.

Early this year, a military-themed camp in the outskirts of Chengdu City appealed to parents.

It was established by three men with vocational secondary school educations who advertised the camp heavily and charged about 3,000 yuan per child. The features of the camp and provided activities did not live up to the high price tag.

The trio became rich overnight, making about 400, 000 yuan from more than 200 campers. The survey also shed light on the fact that campers' complaints to camp organizers never reached the Sichuan general brigade of tourism administrative law enforcement or the Chengdu Consumer Association.

A chief officer of the general brigade, who asked not to be identified, said that the brigade had no right to monitor the camps' commercial operations by non-travel agencies unless there were consumer problems between campers and sellers of scenic spots.

The "zero complaints" indicated hidden troubles as well.

To take more first mover advantage into markets, camp organizers register with industrial and commercial bureaus with over 50,000 yuan without going through endless examination and approvement.

So when an accident happens, irresponsible organizers may take to their heels and run.

(China Daily August 5, 2010)