Chinese man awarded US$73,500 for video featuring Tibet’s beauty, garnering 21 million likes

The tourism authority of Tibet has announced a 500,000-yuan (US$73,500) award for an online influencer whose viral road trip video promoted local tourism and garnered millions of likes

The blogger, who goes by the handle @Liyaode, released the video on July 4 showing he had hailed a taxi to go from Chongqing, in southwestern China, where he lives, to Lhasa, capital of the Tibetan autonomous region, a distance of 2,200km. It received 15 million likes within a day, the Jiupai News reported.

The two cab drivers hired by Liyaode took turns at the wheel and spent seven days to finish the journey.

On July 5, the Tibet Tourism Bureau took to social media to praise Liyaode’s video for displaying the region’s natural landscape and humanistic features from multiple perspectives.

“It generates effective online traffic and conveys positive values. It is in line with Tibet tourism authority’s promotional spirit and has positive effects on society,” the bureau said.