A Decade of Backpacking, I Just Want to Stop and See the World, We Always Travel Hand in Hand and Why We Travel are among the most popular travel books in China. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The recent travel book Because It's There, published by Citic, was written by photographer Chen Yewei, who climbed 14 peaks at altitudes more than 8,000 meters above sea level, in 10 years.

Zhang Jinpeng, too, has been changing the direction in his writing. After A Decade of Backpacking, he published Why We Travel in 2012. His next book will be titled Don't Forget the Road Back Home.

"There are now so many travel books encouraging people to go out, I think I should write a book about how to come back," says Zhang Jinpeng, who is now managing his youth hostel in Lijiang.

After years of traveling, he has finally decided to settle down.

"When I first traveled around Europe, I learned that most youth hostels don't accept guests older than 35," says Zhang Jinpeng.

"I turned 36 on Oct 7. So I got to realize my dream when I was still considered a young man."