Since working as an English-speaking tour guide in 2016, Guo Zhiwei has been in the tourism industry for six years. The epidemic in 2020 has brought a big change to his work. From a beginner, Guo Zhiwei has now become a well-known tour guide, mainly focusing on the Great Wall scenic spots. During this time, he was sunburned and frostbitten, hesitant and indecisive...
On November 7, 2021, Guo Zhiwei made an outdoor live broadcast at the Mutianyu Great Wall.
His work of leading the foreign tour group around the country was suspended. Then he began to create short videos in the Forbidden City.
Every day around 11:00 a.m., Guo Zhiwei, who lived in Langfang City, Hebei Province, would drive for about an hour and a half to the Great Wall to prepare for the live broadcast at 2:00 p.m. After the 4-6 hours of live broadcast was over, Guo would go home at night, and had to spend the evening reviewing, summarizing and preparing for the next day's live streaming.
This has been going on for more than a year. Today, this English-speaking guide with four years of experience in leading inbound tour groups has become a well-known tour guide who mainly focuses on the Great Wall. Entering the live broadcasting industry and continuing to work as a tour guide, Guo Zhiwei admitted that his transformation was not easy.
In fact, Guo Zhiwei once left the tourism industry after the epidemic, which led to the suspension of the tour group work. After the outbreak of the epidemic in 2020, his work was suspended for 5 months. Seeing that his savings would be depleted and there was no hope that inbound tourism would recover in a short period of time, Guo began to send out his resume to find a job after less than a month of recovery from gastric perforation surgery. Because of his age and work experience, it's not easy to change jobs again. Later, Guo managed to find a job as a course consultant, but he was not happy and even felt a little depressed. "The new job is very stable, but it is far from my favorite job. Because I've been a tour guide for a long time, there is always a kind of inexplicable uneasiness".
So in his spare time, Guo Zhiwei started to create tourist self-media, making explanatory videos about the Forbidden City and posting them on the TikTok platform. During that time, in addition to his regular work as a course consultant, he either went to the Forbidden City to shoot videos or edited materials at home. More than a month later, the short vedio had been viewed around 1,000 times, boosted by the traffic on the platform. Guo Zhiwei felt that there was little hope of returning to his job as a tour guide by making short videos.
But he did not give up and continued to insist on short video creation. In the summer, when he went to the Forbidden City to make short videos, Guo Zhiwei noticed that in addition to the staff and tourists, there were also a group of people holding their mobile phones to make live broadcast in the Forbidden City. After hearing that more and more tour guides were turning to live broadcasting, Guo Zhiwei was tempted as well.
Nearly 400 live broadcasts recorded the Great Wall, which started from a sunset.
Although the live broadcast opened the door of hope for Guo Zhiwei, and the transformation of the tour guide into the live broadcast was also supported by the Tour Guide Branch of the Beijing Tourism Industry Association, he carefully observed it for nearly 4 months before starting to prepare for the transformation.
But how to step into the threshold of live broadcast? A new problem in front of him to choose is the starting point of live streaming content. At that time, many tour guides in Beijing switched to doing live broadcasts, and most of them started from the Forbidden City. Guo Zhiwei hesitated, "I want to have my own characteristics rather than follow the general trend".
While hesitating, Guo Zhiwei went to the Panlong Mountain Great Wall Scenic Spot by chance in October 2020, and saw the long-lost Great Wall sunset. "At that moment, I didn't know why the long-term depression broke out suddenly, and I burst into tears as if no one else was there." After crying, Guo Zhiwei thought, "Why didn't I choose to start my live broadcast from the Great Wall?"
Next, Guo Zhiwei sorted out the information about the Great Wall, prepared the gimbal stabilizer and power bank for the live broadcast, and started the first live broadcast at the Mutianyu Great Wall on the morning of December 1, 2020. More than a year later, Guo Zhiwei can't remember exactly what he said in the first live broadcast, but the excitement and anxiety of the three hours that day are still fresh in his mind: "It's just like the feeling of leading a group for the first time," he said.
From that day on, Guo Zhiwei began to broadcast live,rain or shine, on the theme of the Great Wall. In the nearly 400 live broadcasts he has completed, he has traveled to all the Great Wall scenic spots around Beijing, and even to Laolongtou(Old Dragon's Head) and Shanhai Pass in Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province. The live broadcast data started with less than 500 viewers and reached a peak traffic of up to 800,000 viewers.
On December 23, 2021, Guo Zhiwei broadcast live on the Simatai Great Wall.
The mobile phone was frozen and shut down at minus 17°C, which was "the first time I cried since the live broadcast".
Guo Zhiwei has fallen in love with this profession from the bottom of his heart since he started to study tour guiding in college. With love, he obtained an English tour guide license one year after graduation, and started working as an English tour guide in 2016. Until 2019 before the epidemic, he has been leading the group step by step. According to the arrangement of the travel agency where he works, the tour groups led by Guo Zhiwei are usually divided into two types. One is a custom-made group with family-based chartered cars and tour guides. The duration of the group is usually 3 nights and 4 days or 4 nights and 5 days; the other is a one-day tour group of 20-40 people by bus. The two types of tour groups are interspersed, so that he basically maintained a non-stop work schedule, which was not interrupted until the Spring Festival holiday in 2020.
Turning to the tour guide streamer, Guo Zhiwei regained his peace of mind and also felt the difference between live broadcasting and offline group leading. "Unlike leading a group, which is limited to a maximum of 40 tourists at a time, the live broadcast faces a large number of fans, and their questions are highly professional. There will also be fans who have done in-depth research on the Great Wall culture. Some questions are due to my lack of knowledge reserve. At the beginning, I will feel very tired and have doubts about my ability".
So Guo Zhiwei pushed himself to keep learning. Every day after the live broadcast ends, he will replay his presentation and take time to read books and look up information. Although he still encounters problems that stump him now, his mentality is becoming more and more mature. "The process of live broadcasting is also a process of self-growth".
In addition, the three meals and even the work and rest periods after the live broadcast have become more irregular compared to the working hours of leading the group. In order to reduce the number of times he goes to the bathroom, Guo Zhiwei will choose to drink less or even no water, "I was a little uncomfortable at first, but now I have basically worked out".
In his opinion, in addition to knowledge and physical preparation, it is also necessary to overcome difficulties such as signal delay and extreme weather conditions to do a good job. In more than a year of live broadcasting, Guo Zhiwei has experienced the "shutdown" cold of minus 17°C and the "shutdown" high temperature of 38°C. Among them, the live broadcast of the weather forecast showing the coldest day in 2020 left a deep impression on him.
On November 7, 2021, Guo Zhiwei broadcast live on the Mutianyu Great Wall.
The temperature that day was about minus 17°C, and the strong wind blew on his face like a knife stab. Not wanting to stop the broadcast, Guo Zhiwei rushed to the Great Wall with his guitar on his back, set up a gimbal stabilizer and started the live broadcast. "Although the wind was so strong that I couldn't speak for a while, the live broadcast was very smooth at the beginning. When I had finished explaining the content and was about to play and sing Hometown to the fans under the sunset, my mobile phone shut down without warning for the first time since my live streaming." After a few seconds of sluggishness, Guo Zhiwei immediately put the phone in his arms to warm it up, but not long after turning it on, the phone shut down again. Guo Zhiwei still remembers that after turning off the phone, he squatted in the corner of the city wall, listening to the strong wind blowing past his ears, and unconsciously shed tears, "That was the first time I cried since I began live broadcasting."
Since the start of live broadcast, Guo Zhiwei has suffered from sunburn and frostbite, and has even lost over 20 kilograms now. However, he doesn't just live broadcast for the income and takes lightly the flow of viewers.
In the live streaming industry, not every effort yields a return. "In June 2020, the traffic began to decline, and the number of online viewers dropped to less than 1000 people."
During this low point, Guo Zhiwei briefly entertained the idea of giving up. It was at this time that the Tour Guide Branch of the Beijing Tourism Industry Association, in collaboration with WeChat Channels, announced the National Tour Guide Live Streaming Competition. Guo Zhiwei received a recommendation and participated in the competition. Through this event, he entered the world of WeChat Channels live broadcasting. Not only did he win the first prize, but his income also significantly improved by broadcasting on two platforms.
After experiencing live broadcasting on TikTok and WeChat Channels, Guo Zhiwei now believes that "traffic is important, but I have learned to not focus too much on it. Some things cannot be forced. As long as I persist, there will be more possibilities for realizing my hopes."
Guo Zhiwei told the reporter of Beike economy of The Beijing News that when he first started live broadcasting, he quit his job as a course consultant with the determination to burn his bridges. In the first few months of live broadcasting, when his income was less than what he earned as a course consultant, he even borrowed money from his childhood friend to keep it a secret from his family.
Besides income, Guo Zhiwei is optimistic about the potential for integrating live broadcasting with offline tour guiding. He believes that the two complement each other. "Through live broadcasting, more fans get to know me,which may be converted into my tourists in the future."
Furthermore, the affirmation and support of his fans is also the reason for his persistence. "One fan said that due to health reasons, he might not have the chance to visit the Great Wall in his lifetime, and my live broadcast showed him the hope of life and gave him the courage to keep going." There was also a message from a fan saying, "Little Dao (the nickname of Guo Zhiwei's live account), you are not just a tour guide or a anchor, you are our eyes, allowing us to see the Great Wall at different times of the day." This has brought back a sense of happiness and accomplishment for Guo Zhiwei. On his first anniversary of live broadcasting, he even created a song for his fans.
"I am a live tour guide focused on outdoor tourism at the Great Wall."
In addition to live broadcasting, Guo Zhiwei has never given up on creating short videos. He has shifted his focus from the Forbidden City to the Great Wall and also wants to share more about local life and exploration. Looking towards the future, he hopes to reach 200,000 viewers and have one million fans. In a future without travel restrictions, he dreams of live broadcasting a journey across ten provinces in the Ming Great Wall scenic spots.
In Guo Zhiwei's plans, live broadcasting and tour guiding are always connected. As he evaluates himself, "I am a live tour guide focused on outdoor tourism at the Great Wall." Guo Zhiwei told the reporter of Beike economy of The Beijing News that he will continue to work in the tourism industry. "For now, I have already figured out the basics and know which path to take. I will continue on this path, no matter what challenges I face. I believe that everything will eventually recover." He also believes that those colleagues who had to leave the tourism industry due to the current situation will return when tourism resumes. "The colleagues who left still occasionally reminisce with me about our past as tour guides. I understand their helplessness and can see that they really miss it."
As an English-speaking tour guide, Guo Zhiwei often thinks about the future recovery of inbound and outbound tourism. "I now take out my old English tour guide scripts from time to time, reviewing and memorizing, and always prepared."
Reporter of Beike economy of The Beijing News: Wang Zhenzhen
Editor: Li Zheng
Proofreader: Wei Zhuo
Image: Provided by the interviewee
