While most Shanghai residents spent the last week enjoying a vacation from work, others were able to cash in on the holiday by taking part-time jobs.

A recent salary report released by the Shanghai Labor and Social Security Bureau indicates that wedding ceremony emcees, part-time tour guides and hosts of commercial promotion activities were the best paid part-time workers during the May Day holiday.

The report said wedding emcees earn an average of 400 yuan (US$48) for each ceremony they host, but since the holiday was a very busy season for weddings, salaries jumped by 25 to 50 percent last week.

More than 3,000 couples tied the knot in the city during the May Day holiday, the bureau reported, and some emcees took home more than 1,000 yuan (US$120) for a single wedding.

The booming holiday tourism market presented a good money-making opportunity for travel-lovers with a tourist guide license.

"As many local travel agencies saw a large increase in customer numbers during the May Day holiday, that created many part-time job vacancies for tour guides," said Zhang Li, director of the bureau's salary division.

She added that recent university graduates are especially suitable for the positions.

Part-time tour guides earn about 50 to 80 yuan (US$6-9) a day, depending on the route they cover and how far they have to travel, officials said.

The report also suggested that people who host outdoor commercial promotion activities were among the best-paid workers during the Labor Day holiday.

Hosts, who earn about 100 yuan an hour, are responsible for introducing products to customers and passers-by on the street, and organizing interactive games and activities.

(eastday.com May 9, 2005)