Hello everyone, I’m DoubleZ, an independent developer from Hangzhou, China.
For years, I dreamed of creating my own product, but the sheer effort of mastering disparate skill sets felt like a wall. Now, AI has changed everything, transforming me into a "one-person army." This liberation allows me to focus on a mission close to my heart: bridging the information gap for foreign visitors traveling to China.
The Problem I’m Solving:
Since 2024, China has become increasingly open (e.g., the new 144/240-hour visa-free transit policies), attracting numerous overseas tourists. However, inbound travel is still hindered by basic access barriers: language difficulties, payment hurdles, internet restrictions, and cultural differences. These subtle but real issues often turn an anticipated journey into an anxious one. So, I decided to tackle this problem in the way I know best—by writing code and building products.
As a Chinese person, I love this land and have a deep affection for Chinese culture. I want to use my product skills to help more people understand Chinese culture and experience its charm.
After a series of research and reflection, I created WanderChina.Guide. Its goal is to become the "First Stop" for foreign travelers planning independent trips to China and learning about its culture.
Solo Workflow and Tech Stack Deep Dive:
My background is primarily backend development, and over my career, I've transitioned through roles like Product Manager, Project Lead, and Entrepreneur. Yet, completing an entire project solo remained a significant challenge.
My first hurdle was the tech stack choice. I'm more familiar with WordPress + MySQL, which would be a fine choice for a content site.
However, I ultimately chose Next.js + Supabase. For a starting solo developer, this stack offers extremely low cost and "out-of-the-box" services that significantly boost development and deployment efficiency. Next.js has a complete ecosystem, integrates perfectly with Shadcn UI and Tailwind CSS, and deployment on Serverless platforms like Cloudflare or Vercel minimizes initial costs. Aside from the domain, the startup cost is virtually zero.
While I hadn't used Next.js before and the learning curve was slow initially, I believe that if the direction is right, the rest will follow. I started by using Figma to study how a travel information site should be designed and laid out. Then, I leveraged V0 to generate the basic framework for the homepage and some common pages. This gave me the project foundation, and then I officially kicked off development locally.
The AI-driven experience throughout the development process has been exciting:
- Vibe Coding: The entire site was built in my spare time—true "Vibe Coding." AI assisted with frontend components, the multi-language structure, and content architecture, drastically reducing my development time.
- AI-Powered N8N Content Generation: To differentiate from traditional travel sites, launching a comprehensive city guide collection required the generation and organization power of AI workflows. I utilize N8N workflows for content generation, which, after human validation and supplementation, enables deep, accurate, and rapid content scaling that was previously impossible for a single person.
- AI Tool Integration: Focused on Chinese culture, I have developed several free, no-login-required tools to continuously enrich the website's ecosystem.
What You Can Find on WanderChina.Guide:
It is a one-stop information platform dedicated to foreign visitors, aiming to reduce information asymmetry and enhance the inbound travel experience.
It features rich sections:
- Visa Section: Latest visa policies, including a detailed breakdown of the 240-hour transit visa-free policy, applicable ports, FAQs, visa types, fees, photo standards, and procedures.
- Discover Section: In-depth guides for popular cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, etc.), covering attractions, food, transportation, weather, and best travel seasons.
- Tips & Guides: Answers to common travel questions, payment and transport guides, and detailed explanations of various traditional Chinese cultural topics.
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AI Smart Tools:
- "AI Chinese Name Generator": Uses a deep reasoning AI model to generate authentic Chinese names suitable for professional, travel, and daily life in China.
- "Chinese to Pinyin and Segmentation Tool": Input any Chinese sentence to get word segmentation, Pinyin, definitions, and stroke order animations, making Chinese learning more accessible.
- Essential App List: A curated list of tools and information needed for travel or life in China, including commonly used apps like Alipay, WeChat Pay, Didi (ride-sharing), and Amap (navigation).
I have no team and no funding. I rely entirely on AI augmentation and continuous iteration. This allows me to stay focused: not on becoming a generic travel platform, but on being a promoter of Chinese culture, helping people who wish to travel and live in China solve the real issues they face.
Why This is Worth Doing:
China is opening up, but the digital barriers and information divide still exist. Through this product, I hope to:
- Allow more people to confidently plan their trips to China.
- Reduce misunderstanding or anxiety caused by a lack of information.
- Project an authentic, friendly, and diverse image of China.
Next Steps
- Add more in-depth city guides.
- Introduce more cultural content, such as "Chinese Zodiac," "Eight Characters and Feng Shui," and "Chinese Kung Fu."
- Develop an "AI Itinerary Planning Assistant."
If you are interested in this project or have suggestions for new features or sections, feel free to share in the comments!
Project Link: https://wanderchina.guide
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