Saddling up for adventure

"I could have earned a lot by promoting goods online but I refused," says Yue, adding that rather than becoming an online influencer who dwells on influencer marketing, he prefers to "think broader and become a useful person for society".

Born in a village in Fengjie, Yue has deep love for rural areas. He says the traveling, mostly in China's rural areas, has given him a chance to reflect on what he can do－possibly public welfare livestreaming for agriculture, rural areas and farmers in the country's rural revitalization.

"I wouldn't be able to accomplish the journeys without the help of a lot of people," says Yue, adding that some friends from the internet and a great many local farmers provided food and water, both for him and the horse, looked out for their safety and offered suggestions at difficult moments.

"There's no point in hurrying on with my journey again," says Yue.

He reveals that in his second journey, which will pass through Guizhou and Yunnan provinces, he wants to slow down the pace and go deep into remote rural areas, and look for what he can do.

Last year, in Longshan county, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao autonomous prefecture in Hunan province, Yue met a shepherd couple in their 60s. They just lost a son who died from uremia, and had two mentally challenged sons to look after. The senior man was physically disabled and the family lived in a shabby shelter.

Yue left 500 yuan, half of all the money he had, to the family. Later he mobilized a voluntary fundraising among his internet friends via livestreaming and donated a further 1,210 yuan to the family.