Mei Zhang

Founder, Wildchina

Mei Zhang is Founder of WildChina, a premium sustainable travel company offering distinctive, ecologically sensitive journeys to all corners of China. A native of Yunnan province in southwest China, Mei earned her MBA from Harvard Business School (HBS) and worked for McKinsey & Company, serving as a consultant to The Nature Conservancy in China.

Mei left a management consulting career to start WildChina in 2000, inspired by the clash she perceived between economic development and conservation of both nature and culture in Yunnan. She built WildChina on the simple mission to assist travelers to experience China differently.

From the start, WildChina involved local stakeholders to develop grassroots eco-tourism programs, such as helping a local village lodge owner turn his property into an eco-lodge that caters to international guests, from assisting with menu development to improvements on lodging and bedding. WildChina also pioneered environmentally friendly backpacking journeys, a first in China. By using solar power, minimizing waste and hiring and training local crews to set up tents and prepare gourmet meals, WildChina ensures that clients travel in style without damaging the environment.

Given its hands-on experience in developing sustainable tourism practices, WildChina now consults for World Wildlife Fund (WWF) on eco-tourism development in the panda conservation areas of Sichuan province. Through this unique partnership, WildChina has trained local staff on how to develop sustainable programs, including how to run low-impact hiking programs and deal with rubbish disposal. WildChina now plans to expand this model nationwide across China.

Realizing that WildChina alone cannot change the industry, Mei makes time to speak at various embassy forums and conferences about eco-tourism and sustainable tourism in China. She returns to Harvard each spring to present the case study that HBS wrote on WildChina, teaching MBA students that one can be a successful entrepreneur in the sustainable travel business.

A China travel industry expert, Mei has transformed WildChina into an award-winning business with offices in both Beijing and the United States. Her passion for travel and familiarity with the consulting industry means that she is acutely aware of the needs of the business and educational travel community. In 2009, Travel + Leisure named Mei an "A-List Top Travel Agent."