Off the beaten track

"We don't like to make short videos about travel tips. Rather, we prefer to present the local lifestyles and we feel emotionally connected with these people."

They visited a cattle-farming clan in Yangdong village, Liping county, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture, Guizhou province. They had to drive on a winding road up the mountain and a bumpy mud path, but the picturesque view of terraced fields proved to be worthwhile.

Every May, more than 1,000 cattle plough the fields, a tradition of the Dong ethnic group. The village head opened a minsu via crowdfunding, hoping to draw tourists.

"It's like a Land of Peach Blossom in modern society. Their material life may not be as good as those in big cities, but they lead a life of ease and comfort," Tuotuo says.

Parents travel with kid

Ren Zhongli and Yuan Meng have been posting their travel stories with their 5-year-old son on tourism platforms such as Mafengwo, to record his growing-up. As they've drawn more and more fans, they then became travel influencers and still work in a State-own company in Chengdu, Sichuan province.

"I want to explore less visited places and share our travel experience, so that others can know which destinations are suitable for them and how to better enjoy themselves in a trip. I also share the good people and good deeds that we encounter, and it's a way of passing on positive energy," says Ren, 32.

Once they visited Hemu village at Kanas Nature Reserve, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in winter, when the temperature was around -30 C.

It so happened that their car got stuck in the snow and an ethnic Kazak man volunteered to help, by tying rope around the car tires for an hour to help them gain traction. Ren wanted to offer him some money, but he refused, so Ren rented out his horse-drawn carriage to tour around the village.

"My son likes making friends, so we take him to places other children would gather," he says.

The couple often go on a road trip and they prefer to visit children's playground and aquarium so that the boy can play with others of his age.

On weekends, they drive a car to explore Chengdu's surrounding areas for a getaway. For example, they might camp near the Ya'nyu Lake in Ya'an city, and visit villages for cultural experiences such as pottery and cloth-dying.