They travel virtually for you

In a growing group, new-media pros make a living by selling their real-time experience as tourists. Xu Lin reports.

It's probably the most envied job in the world - to get free in-depth travel all over the world and sometimes with a sizable income, too.

They travel like a local, knowing how to have fun. They go to must-see scenic spots, chat with the locals, eat delicious food and often stay in a five-star hotel. They share their happiness on social media in real time with fans.

Known as "travel experts", they are often invited by tourism bureaus or travel agencies to inbound and outbound familiarization trips. They are the "we-media" emerging in the booming era of social media.

They got their start by accumulating many fans when they shared their self-financed travel experience on social media. Gradually, they've become influencers in the industry, finding favor with the advertisers who value their online following.

Zhang Jin and Pang Qianyi from Guangzhou, Guangdong province, are two of them. They are better known online as the "Baozou Sisters" - baozou means long-distance walking in Chinese, with about 700,000 followers on their joint WeChat account.

"The communication channels are shifting from television and print to mobile devices. We are the first lucky ones to embrace the change," says Zhang, 33.

"Now, we shoulder more responsibility than before because we want to explore more places for our fans. We also tell them how to buy cheap air tickets."

'Often versatile'

In May, Zhang and Pang, along with a friend, co-founded the new-media company Daydow Info and Tech Ltd Co. The two quit their jobs as Guangdong News Radio hosts, but still present their travel program for radio listeners.

"You have to be quick at everything, ranging from catching the central issue to writing articles," Pang says. "As traveling has become our job, the boundary between work and life is vague. Sometimes our necks ache due to heavy work, but at least we're doing the things that we like."

Once Pang was so busy with an article on Lunar New Year's Eve, she couldn't prepare the family reunion dinner in time.

"In the past, we were proud because of our identity as radio hosts. But now, we're proud of ourselves, with a great sense of achievement. We're more in the shoes of our audience and endeavor to know about what they like," Zhang says.

They prefer to make their own itineraries, rather than joining an arranged group tour with peers, so they can have unique adventures.

They once bumped into a young man in Penang, Malaysia, who has been dedicated to protecting the city's intangible culture heritage. He's promoting traditional handicrafts by having craftsmen present their works and teach tourists.

"I was touched by his resolution. We're also promoting the local cultures via our travel articles. If someone is interested, they may want to learn the handicraft," Zhang says.

The two organize various activities to interact with fans. They have held a photography contest for their followers, and they collect travel stories of fans and record them for their radio program.

They make marketing campaigns for destinations, such as inviting fans to travel with them and then having a sharing saloon. They also write advertorials on WeChat, around 30,000 yuan ($4,300) for a lead article.

Pang says top influencers in the travel field must be diligent, capable of enduring hardships and ready to work hard under pressure.

"They are often versatile - taking photos, editing videos, writing good articles and with a good taste in music. They are social butterflies who know how to cultivate extensive connections. They are open-minded and can keep pace with new trends, and express their values via their work," she says.

She adds that the current trends for presenting their travels are streaming and short videos.

Being interactive

Liu Wenwen, 33, couldn't agree more.

She usually live-broadcasts for one or two hours on each trip, with an average 1 million hits and 10,000 fans watching at the same time. Since fall, she has found that more and more influencers have started to live-broadcast their travels.

Liu used to be a famous football blogger and wrote two novels, with more than 700,000 followers on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter-like platform.

"Being interactive is important. I would switch the images between the picturesque views and myself from time to time. I like chatting with them and I try my best to answer all their questions," she says.

She's got a lot of topics to talk about and would combine advertisements such as for digital products with her chat.

"The schedule is often tight, from morning to night. On our way to the next scenic spot, we are busy editing the pictures and writing down our feelings as we have to update social media in real time," she says.

They often burn the midnight oil to process the photos taken in daytime and tackle some trifling tasks.

Once she only slept two hours due to flight delays, and still joined the next day's itinerary with plenty of energy.

When she comes back to Beijing, she writes an informative travel note including her views about the local culture and society.

"It's a competitive profession with great pressure. It's always essential to improve yourself and make good content," she says. She only rests about four or five days a month.

She recently finished a three-month study of English in Los Angeles and is planning to improve her photography and video-editing skills.

Many fans are university students who are curious about her job, and she is planning to offer guidance to those who are interested in choosing the profession.

"I tell them being an influencer is not just about indulging in food and pleasure-seeking. No pain, no gain. But if you really want to do it, you need to improve some basic skills such as photography," she says.

Creative content

However, there are voices of caution.

"You need to have seen much of the world at first because being an influencer is not just about taking photos and writing articles," says 37-year-old Qi Dong from Shanghai.

"It takes time for you to become famous enough to financially support yourself from the earnings.

"The most important thing is to have your own ideas and personality," he says. "As many are entering the industry, only those who make creative content will survive."

He's been striving to promote train-travel culture, and he's writing a book about his one-month train trip throughout Russia. He's taken many photos and filmed documentaries about train travel.

When Qi was aged 4, he often took trains with his parents from Shandong province to Shanghai to see his grandparents. Trains represent thrilling journeys as well as homesickness for him.

While high-speed trains are very popular in China now, Qi has a preference for the "green-skinned train", which is the slow olden-day transport with cheaper tickets but lacks air conditioning. They first hit the tracks in the 1950s; most of them are no longer in use.

He's taken several hundred trips on those trains, where each window view is a miniature of the Chinese countryside.

The experience can be interactive: He once found several chickens under his seat, and villagers in ethnic group costumes will hawk goods such as herbs.

He says some overseas train culture is more developed than that of China, but that's changing. For example, on the Kunming-Lijiang "culture train" (the train is decorated inside out with all kinds of cultural patterns unique to Lijang), travelers can sip a cocktail and sing at a well-decorated karaoke bar.

He has always loved traveling and writing, and in 2012 he started working as a freelancer for print and new media to share his train travels.

"As you don't keep office hours, you need to be self-disciplined," he says.

Contact the writer at xulin@chinadaily.com.cn