Detour

Tired of group tours to the summer Palace and Great Wall? Would you prefer a peek at ancient Ming villages? Or to seek Shangri-La in Himalayan valleys, where century-old Catholic churches still vibrate to Christian hymns sung in Tibetan.

Such trips are a stark contrast to those run by the staple of state-run Chinese agencies that have long dominated and dictated the direction of mainland tourism. But things are opening up, as evidenced by the offbeat offerings of Internet travel company (www.wildchina.com). While its director, Mei Zhang, hails from remote Yunnan province, she obtained a Harvard M.B.A. and worked for high-profile...