Yixia will invest 100 million yuan ($14.8 million) to promote the alliance, which is designed to boost tourism.

Live streaming has been all the rage this year, with hundreds of short video sharing and live broadcasting platforms springing up.

The number of users who tuned into online broadcasting shows reached 325 million by June, 2016, accounting for 45.8 percent of Chinese netizens, according to an internet development report by China internet Network Information Center.

Meanwhile, CYTS and Yixia see the potential and hope to integrate tourism with the live streaming craze to make tourism marketing more interesting, says an official with CYTS.

Compared with the traditional marketing of a destination, video offers more real virtual experiences, say experts.

This is a view supported by Dai Bin, the head of China Tourism Academy, who says: "It's great to enrich a visitor's experience by enabling him to see the destination before the trip, especially information on scenic spots."

The alliance will feature information on tourism bureaus, airlines and hotel.

Well-known online celebrities in the tourism sector will star in the videos to answer user's questions and share their travel experiences about specific destinations.

CYTS Tours has reached strategic agreements on live broadcasts with Heilongjiang, Guizhou and Qinghai provinces, and the Inner Mongolia, Tibet and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous regions.

The travel agency, which used videos to boost tourism for Heilongjiang province and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region this year received good feedback from online users.

For Lin, she's already using Miaopai to share her travel experiences, and some of her work has received more than 500,000 clicks.

Speaking about her future plans, Lin says there's still a lot to do.

"I'd like to travel to as many destinations that I haven't been to," she says.

"And I also want to try something three-dimensional and learn to take aerial, underwater or even VR photos."

yangfeiyue@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 12/12/2016 page9)