Road less traveled

Tony Wheeler, co-founder of Lonely Planet.

Wheeler sold his company a few years ago to have more time for traveling and charitable projects, but he's still actively involved with Lonely Planet.

"Lonely Planet is like my child. Your children may leave home, but you always worry about them," he says.

"You always hope they do the right thing, and you are proud of them when they do things well. I'm still proud of Lonely Planet."

Wheeler - who has traveled 155 countries and regions - believes China is one of the most interesting destinations.

"China is a country that stretches so far, and there's so much difference between one part and another," he says.

"The other thing I would say is the change. If you are traveling through China, look at things and ask how these were 10 or 20 years ago and how it will be in 10 or 20 years' time. Thinking about that is very exciting."

That makes China a very important destination for guidebook publishers, he explains.

"China is a destination that you have to go into at depth, and to try to understand the culture and history," he says.

"So for a guidebook publisher, it is a very challenging destination, and the challenges are always what make it so interesting."

Like many of its guidebooks, Lonely Planet's Chinese-language editions about Chinese destinations, such as Yunnan province, are written by local authors.

The first Lonely Planet guides in Chinese were published in 2006, when China's travel industry began to develop.