Young travelers picking places on interests

Yang Yang holds a koala at a zoo in Brisbane, Australia. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Experience matters

The generation of Chinese born in the 1990s has created a new trend in the era of independent traveling, says Feng Rao, head of the travel research of mafengwo.cn.

"And as they become key customers, their consumption patterns will affect the development of the business model, and become a driving force in the industry," Feng says.

Zheng Feifei, 27, has never held a nine-to-five job that required her to sit in an office.

After university, she opened a cafe in Chongqing and later, in Lijiang, Yunnan province, a popular travel destination in China.

In the meantime, she tours the country and goes abroad in her spare time.

In August, she shut the cafe to travel. In March, she visited Lhasa, in the Tibet autonomous region, and settled there impressed by the city's natural beauty and Buddhism culture.

Following her previous profession, she became a barista and pastry chef at a restaurant in the bustling Barkhor Street next to the Jokhang Temple in the city.

"It feels good to meet with different people and chat with tourists. Although sometimes, I'm too busy to have lunch, I'm glad to see regular customers as it means that they appreciate my pastries and coffee," she says.

On sunny days, the residents of Lhasa take out their buttered tea and fried snacks to enjoy an outing by the roadside.