Startup backs overseas trips

Through its app, a startup called HIVE is looking to link young Chinese who would like to take some time off for an overseas experiential tour.

The Chinese company is now in talks with some international organizations in New York and Washington to create internship or volunteer opportunities in their financial or cultural programs for young Chinese, said Guorui Su, head of HIVE's US office in San Francisco.

"The organizations are very enthusiastic with our project, and we will provide consulting service on behalf of our users, helping them design tours and bring out their highlights," said Su, declining to disclose more details because of ongoing negotiations.

The app, also called HIVE, an acronym for hobby, improvement, volunteer and exotic, was launched in May. It has gotten more than 400,000 users since then, mostly university students and young professionals in China.

"It's a Chinese version of Airbnb," said Su. "We will provide more language versions so that people across the world can have access to internship or experiential tour opportunities in every corner of the world," he said.

The company plans to launch the English version at year-end for the US and European markets and then traditional Chinese-character versions next year for the Hong Kong and Taiwan markets.

The current programs range from learning Thai boxing or preparing Thai cuisine in Thailand to practicing yoga in India or teaching at Sri Lanka's orphanages.

"We receive surging demands for internship trips in the US," said Su. "Here we focus on the 'improvement' to help the Chinese students studying in the US add interesting experience to their resumes."

HIVE was inspired by the founding team's own experience.

"They used to spend a lot of time and energy searching the Internet for overseas volunteer opportunities," Su said.

It's also a result of the Chinese people's changing concept of overseas tours, he said.

"They are not satisfied with standardized package tours but more interested in meaningful and unique experience or enjoying the local lifestyles," he said. "The young people have come to recognize the notion of 'service learning' compared with 'classroom learning'. By experiencing other people's lives, you can develop sympathy and self-perfection."

The notion of "gap year" became popular in China a few years ago. College students or young professionals who have years of working experience would take some time off to go on backpacking trips. When they come back, they usually share their stories on social networks, and some have even published books.

Early this year, a female teacher's resignation letter went viral in China, which included only one sentence: "The world is so big, and I want to go see it."

That line almost immediately resonated with young Chinese.

"A long, exotic journey could not address your problems, but it does help you reflect on your life and cope with stress," Su said.

liazhu@chinadailyusa.com