2011-02-20 09:42

Hangzhou, long regarded by the Chinese as paradise on earth, is apparently only now gaining popularity among Western tourists. Despite the West Lake's legendary beauty, the capital of East China's Zhejiang province was always considered a bit out of reach, says one of the country's premier travel agents.

"The game changers were two things," says Mei Zhang, founder of WildChina, a Beijing-based luxury travel agency. "One is high-speed rail connection from Shanghai It used to be a three-hour car ride, one way. Now it's 45 minutes," she says of the trains, inaugurated Oct 26 and the country's fastest, with a top speed of 350 kilometers per hour. "Another reason is the incredibly nice hotels in Hangzhou."

Zhang, 40, knows a thing or two about Chinese travel. The native of the Southwestern province of Yunnan set up WildChina in 2000, after seeing firsthand how China lacked premium support for travelers heading to remote destinations. Nine years later, her company made it into National Geographic Adventure's list of "best adventure travel companies on Earth".

Zhang, meanwhile, entered the ranks of Travel + Leisure's "A-list" of travel agents worldwide and in 2010 was named by Conde Nast Traveler as one of the "world's top travel specialists".

Beijing, Shanghai and Xi'an remain the top Chinese destinations for foreign tourists, says Zhang, but she adds that Yunnan is expected to become big this year.

"One of our journeys, the Songtsam Circuit, done in the Shangri-la area, was picked up by Travel + Leisure as a 'trip of a lifetime' for 2011," she says in a phone interview from WildChina's US office in Bethesda, Maryland.

"And also the New York Times (focused) on WildChina's Songtsam Circuit as an unspoiled, must-discover destination for this year." The trip's highlights, according to the travel agency, include a visit to the 300-year-old Songzanlin Tibetan monastery complex, witnessing a ceremony worshipping the holy Mt. Kawagebo and participating in a traditional Tibetan family dinner party.

On top of its dozens of "classic" tours, WildChina introduced in August The Wild China Collection, travel packages to places such as Shanghai, Tibet and Huangshan Mountain, created in collaboration with boutique hotels in remote areas. The collection's target clientele: repeat visitors to China.

"How can you make these places more interesting? How can you serve those who have already been there?" Nancy Tan, a marketing associate for the travel agency, says of the motivation behind the new packages.

Repeat visitors are a growing market in the Chinese tourism industry, says Zhang, whose passion for travel is underpinned by business savvy honed with a Harvard MBA and then a management consulting job at McKinsey & Company in Hong Kong. "China used to be a once-in-a-lifetime journey," Zhang says. "Now they do one to cover Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai and (Hangzhou or Yunnan). Second trip they come back for Tibet. Third trip they come back for the Silk Road."

Some people wonder if WildChina, a trailblazer in the domestic travel industry, is a product of Zhang's foreign education and life experiences. The mother of three, who has lived in the US for seven years altogether, says the company was in fact inspired by a traditional, 8th- century Chinese poem.

"You ask me why I dwell in the mountains. I smile and I don't answer. I look at the flowers flowing down with the stream, and this is where my heart is at peace with nature," Zhang quotes "Green Mountain" by Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai (701-762).

"When you really dig deep into Chinese culture, all the Tang poems depict it, the perfect type of traveling that WildChina symbolizes today they seek tranquility in nature."

And finding tranquility in little-explored places is actually something that WildChina's customers have in common with budget travelers - even though WildChina's guests may spend at least $4,680 (30,895 yuan) for 13 days in Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an and Guilin, discovering the "Essence of China".