I grew up in the old town of Dali in Yunnan Province in Southwest China. Only had two childhood dreams - attend Harvard and travel the world. From an impoverished workers family, these dreams seemed a bit far fetched, to put mildly. I got lucky - kind people helped me.

Then I returned to live in Beijing, and simply traveled. I covered remote corners of Tibet, hiked to the old ruins along the Silk Road, visited unknown tribes in Yunnan and Guizhou. The country is breathtakingly beautiful! I only truly realized this after having covered half of the world. But, how many people can be as lucky as I am?

As a native speaker, I go off the guidebooks, I converse in the local dialect. As a global trotter, I know what luxury feels like, and am gifted to be able to create this experience in China. Why don't I put this tremendous gift to use? Hence I created WildChina, a Beijing based travel company simply aimed at helping clients Experience China differently.

When you should call me? when you want to:
1. Meet common Chinese people in their homes
2. Propose to your fiance on the Great Wall.
3. Find kungfu lessons and games to keep your young explorers enthralled by China
4. Retrace the route of the Flying Tigers in WWII in western Yunnan
5. Go birding or hike in the panda nature reserve

When you should NOT call me? - when you only want to do the Yangtze River cruise. Sorry wrong person. I don't know a single Chinese person (outside the travel trade) who's done the cruise.

I now live in Bethesda MD with my husband and 3 adorable kids, 7, 4 and 1 yr old. Yes, I am the lucky one, escaped the one-child policy rule of China.

Follow me on twitter: @yunnangirl
Read my Blog: www.meischinatravel.com