And, she has been to China's northwestern regions like the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and traveled abroad to the United States and Japan.

However, for the winter vacation, she told her mother to cancel the flight tickets and hotel bookings for Guangzhou, their scheduled trip destination, and instead headed for Xiangxi.

The Xiangxi trip was the first time Zhang traveled without her parents, and also the first time she had visited China's rural areas.

Speaking about the trip, she says: "Compared with all my other travels, which revolved only around eating, shopping and sightseeing, the trip to Xiangxi was so different.

"I had never been to China's rural areas before. Everything was so new for me, such as the heavy snow, the delicious chili dishes and living on the river."