Social media star

The growing appeal of weekend getaways abroad is evident in Stark's large following on the social media platform Xiaohongshu, or RedNote, where he began sharing his outbound travel experiences a few years ago with his 50,000 fans.

His travel philosophy has been to let curiosity lead the way.

For instance, part of the reason for his recent trip to Hawaii was to coincide with the local festivals.

Stark's obsession with travel began in college, when he started taking rides on the country's slow-moving green trains.

"Back then, I didn't really enjoy staying on campus during weekends," he recalled. "Sometimes I'd hop on a cheap train just to get away."

When he discovered low-cost red-eye flights, his range widened. His first international weekend trip was to the Philippines, with a round-trip ticket purchased for less than 400 yuan ($55.80).

He didn't ask his parents for money, but juggled schoolwork with freelance programming gigs to fund his getaways.

After graduation, Stark maintained a routine of taking a weekend trip every two weeks, which later evolved into weekly travel.

He made use of discount airline packages like China Eastern Airlines' unlimited flight pass, and developed a keen eye for the best budget flights.

"My rule is, if a weekend trip's flight costs more than 4,000 yuan, I will pass," he said.

After China reopened its borders following the COVID pandemic, Stark resumed his traveling with renewed energy. Since then, he extended his travel range, including visits to Australia, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom within one month. Last year alone, he visited 43 countries.

Some skeptics describe his travel style as "superficial" or "rush-hour tourism", but Stark shrugs off the criticism.

"I don't think travel depth depends on time," he explained.

"You can break a long trip into multiple visits. I've been to Paris three times — each trip focused on something different."

He once traveled close to the Arctic Circle just to sit inside the world's northernmost McDonald's restaurant for 15 minutes. "For many, it's about experiencing a symbolic location. I didn't need more than that," he said of the trip.

He contrasts that with his other experiences, like waiting three hours on a windy hilltop to capture a time-lapse photograph of the sunset at Santorini in Greece.