10 is the Magic Number: A Decade as a Condé Nast Specialist

We couldn’t be more excited to announce that 2019 marks the tenth year our Yunnan-hailing founder, Mei Zhang, has made it onto Condé Nast Traveler’s Top Travel Specialists list. A list that is carefully composed by the magazine’s editors, it takes an outstanding travel expert with both experience and intuition to snap up one of the coveted spots on this exclusive list. So, marking a whole decade (!) of Condé Nast recognition, we bring you the ten traits that have proudly landed Mei and WildChina on the 2019 CN Specialist List.

WildChina Founder and CEO Mei Zhang

Personal

Everything from the manner in which Mei greets clients to the highly specialized, bespoke trips WildChina puts together is personal. Always pushing to delve deeper than the superficial travel experience, personalization goes a long way in shaping authentic journeys.

Visually Arresting

Hailing from the extraordinarily beautiful Yunnan, Mei knows that sometimes it’s best to let the view do the talking. China is absolutely brimming with stunning sights, from avant-garde architecture in Shanghai to the vast expanses of plateau in China’s western regions. Mei knows them all, and never tires of showing off these picturesque areas of China.

Engaging

Hand in hand with the personalization WildChina affords its clients, Mei and her team are specialists when it comes to designing engaging itineraries. Boasting a full roster of travel experts, our clients are constantly wowed by what they learn from our pros, whether it’s a discovery of Judaism in China or getting to the nitty-gritty of Beijing’s burgeoning art scene.

Industry-leading

To some, traveling the Middle Kingdom can seem a bit of a daunting challenge due to its grand size, unique culture, and language barriers. As a pioneer in the Chinese travel industry, Mei has uncovered the furthest corners and most fascinating aspects of this country, sharing them with her guests and the travel industry alike.

Founder and CEO of WildChina Mei Zhang in Yunnan, where she grew up

Passion

Knowing Mei and the passion she invests into every aspect of WildChina, it comes as no surprise to us to see her named as a Condé Nast Top Travel Specialist for the tenth year in a row. The trips may be flawlessly designed and the destinations absolute winners, but it is Mei and her team’s passion that brings the WildChina experience to life.

Creativity

As each WildChina tour is tailor-made to the requests of the client, there is a lot of room for creativity. Using tried and tested itineraries as skeleton plans, Mei’s team is made up of travel aficionados who are always willing to zhuzh it up with a whole load of special extras. A glass of champagne on the Great Wall, anyone?

The Great Wall of China

Fast-Adapting

As industry experts, Mei and the WildChina team are fast on their feet. Whether it’s setting travel trends with knowledge on China’s hottest new hotels or adapting an itinerary at the last moment to meet a guest’s hankering for Peking duck, adaptability is in our nature.

Influential

Along with imparting her travel know-how to the WildChina team and other industry experts, Mei also influences readers worldwide with her food memoir ‘Travels Through Dali with a Leg of Ham’. This book has introduced readers to the unknown specialties of Yunnan cuisine and inspired travel to this beautiful region of China.

Diverse

From this article alone, it’s clear to see that Mei runs a pretty diverse operation with the WildChina team. Plus, with a country as diverse as China, it makes sense that the travel experiences match the diversity. And boy does it ever with WildChina, from hiking and shopping to learning and eating (and eating, and eating, and more eating).

The Zhangye Danxia Landform in Gansu

High Standards

Finally, the trait that rounds off this list is Mei’s commitment to high standards. With a strong ethos based on luxury travel in far-flung destinations, WildChina prides itself on retaining its renowned high standards no matter where you are traveling. It is the trait that is the basis of WildChina’s success and we have no intention of letting up anytime soon.