Travel agencies banking on tickets to ride

A hard fall

Few sectors fell as far and as fast as tourism as a result of the epidemic, and a large section of the industry was brought to its knees in the first three months－the height of the outbreak－as most of the nation's scenic spots and historic sites were closed to prevent the spread of the virus.

However, instead of simply waiting for the problem to pass, many of those who faced the prospect of months without work were racking their brains and leveraging all resources to weather the storm.

According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the sector provided jobs for 79.87 million people, directly and indirectly, last year, accounting for over 10 percent of China's employed population.

"Not knowing when the tourists or our jobs would come back, the lack of work saw quite a few tour guides become unemployed because travel agencies had no orders and could not afford to pay them a penny," Dai said. "But life had to go on. We had no choice but to find a way to survive."

During the first few weeks, he chose to coop himself up at home. He had his nose in books about the history and culture of Mount Putuo, as well as Buddhism and meditation, for at least 10 hours a day as he worked to deepen his knowledge as a tour guide.

After lunch, he often strolled round the mountain, taking photos and videos and posting them on the videosharing platform Douyin. In the posts, he related anecdotes about the scenic spot and relayed the latest information about its possible reopening.

Dai's efforts paid off. In March, the Mount Putuo management committee saw some of his video clips on Douyin and offered him the opportunity to launch online tours of the area via livestreams.

In the following two months, Dai livestreamed tours of the mountain and temples three times a week for about two hours each time. He gradually garnered lots of traffic and attention and attracted over 450,000 followers to his social media account.

"With an average 2,000 people viewing each of my online tours－and over 6,000 during peak times－I occasionally received tips from the audience," he said. "Thanks to those windfalls, I was able to get by for a few months and find the confidence to continue my career."

In late April, when the epidemic had basically been subdued nationwide, domestic travel demand was on an upswing after more than two months of inactivity. Thanks to the reputation he had established via the livestreams, Dai was one of the first guides to receive orders from local tour groups, and his life gradually began to get back on the right path.