The peopleBook a trip,
Book a trip,
or book the person.
Six bilingual locals, each rooted in one city, one practice, one stubborn opinion. They are not freelance tour guides — they are people we’ve spent years getting to know, who agreed to host strangers because they like the conversation.
Currently hosting
A small bench of locals.
Three for now — we are slow about who we add. Every host has spent at least four years apprenticing in their practice before we placed a stranger in their kitchen.
Ya'an, Sichuan
Wei
Tea master
“Some leaves only open for the third pour. We will wait for it together.”
English · Mandarin · Sichuanese · 8 yrs hosting
Emei, Sichuan
Lin
Mountain photographer
“I know the cloud schedule of seven peaks. The summit is just one of them.”
English · Mandarin · 6 yrs hosting
Chongqing
Cheng
Hot-pot historian
“There are 412 hot-pot houses on my street. We will visit four.”
English · Mandarin · Chongqing dialect · 9 yrs hosting
How we choose
Slow, by design.
We have turned down every freelance application we received last year. We don't run an open marketplace. We build long-term partnerships, pay 35-50% above the local going rate, and never put a host on a route they didn't help write.
Want to host with us?
We open one or two seats a year.
No more, no less.
If you're rooted in a Sichuan or Chongqing practice and curious about hosting English-speaking travellers, we'd love to hear from you.