Giving stories flow

Her years on the job have given her the stamina to lead four tours over a 10-hour workday.

"The rafts have also been upgraded in recent years, so they're lighter and float better, and we don't have to put them together and take them apart now."

She has also developed a distinctive style that has made her a star guide, who's often nominated to serve important guests.

"When I first started, I thought it would suffice to just tell tourists the stories about the waters and mountains on both sides of the Jiuqu River," she says.

Now, she also incorporates ecological protection themes and shows how local people and authorities are translating these into wealth. She and her colleagues also retrieve any litter they encounter during tours, she says.

"Over the past decade or so, we've been implementing the policy of returning farmlands to forests," she says.

"I see the water getting clearer and its volume increasing," Chen says.

She points out the improved environment has, in turn, enhanced the quality of another local treasure — tea.

Tea seeps into her narrations onboard the rafts, as do other local cultural legacies like Song Dynasty (960-1279) philosopher Zhu Xi's neo-Confucian thought, and numerous cliff carvings and hanging coffins dating back over 3,000 years.

Nearly 1.3 million travelers took the raft tours from January to November, a 36 percent increase over the same period of 2019, before the pandemic, says Zhang Ruicai, deputy general manager of Wuyi Mountains Tourism Development Co, which oversees the scenic area's operations. Business revenues reached nearly 150 million yuan ($21 million) in the first 11 months of last year, up 43 percent over 2019, he adds.

The river route's nearly 800 bamboo-raft ride guides have each developed their own narration style.

"The content is different for each group of visitors," Chen says.

"We strive to tailor our explanations to their moods and incorporate elements they appreciate."

Chen has received zero complaints throughout her entire career, she says.

Her explanations are humorous and service is thoughtful, which has won recognition from guests from home and abroad, says her colleague, Zhu Jinxing.

"In the beginning, Chen's father held her hand, and she truly inherited essential (tour) narration skills," Zhu says.

"Chen is very adept at explaining human stories, landscapes and cliff carvings. She's insightful and culturally knowledgeable," Zhu says.

Chen was chosen to give a tour to President Xi Jinping during his visit to the national park in March 2021.

Local authorities have combined Xi's important instructions in such aspects as eco-civilization construction, the promotion of cultural inheritance and rural vitalization with the latest local achievements in these areas to present tour-guide narrations and put together a team to share this with visitors to feel the beauty of the Wuyi Mountains.

Chen still has a thick notebook she saved from her student years that's full of tips she used to develop her skills as a guide.

"I think what I need to improve is to be more patient with each group of guests and convey the landscape and culture of the Wuyi Mountains to them … while emphasizing how we, the people of the Wuyi Mountains, protect this land," Chen says.

"I want to share this with them so that they not only marvel at the beauty of the Wuyi Mountains but also take this awareness back with them … to protect their own lucid waters and lush mountains."