Choose your landscape, rest your soul

In the late autumn of 2023, our founding team first stepped into Shenguantun, a Yi village in Qujing, Yunnan — forgotten by time, where century-old rammed-earth walls stand like paintings, pine forest streams flow year-round, and the Milky Way cascades across the night sky at 2,400 meters. That night, we sat around a Yi elder's hearth, firelight dancing on earthen walls, listening to stories passed down through generations. In that moment, we understood: true luxury is not material accumulation, but spatial emptiness, unhurried time, and a profound connection with nature and culture.

A year later, Pugui Travel established its first Sanctuary in Shenguantun — preserving every crack in the original rammed-earth walls, restoring Yi wood-carved doors, and laying underfloor heating beneath earthen floors. We invited local Yi grandmothers as cultural advisors, decorated rooms with their hand-tie-dyed textiles, and built soaking tubs from mountain pine and river stones. The architecture is no longer an intruder — it is a natural extension of the land itself.

"朴" (pǔ) means unhewn wood — the unadorned, authentic state. "归" (guī) means to return — to come back to original purity. The name Pugui embodies our understanding of Eastern living aesthetics: return to authenticity with a humble heart.

Our Mission

We are not a hotel group, nor a travel agency. We are a bridge connecting people to land, people to culture. Each Sanctuary is built in collaboration with local artisans, using vernacular materials and traditional craftsmanship — the rough texture of rammed-earth walls, the natural grain of pine beams, the indigo hues of Yi tie-dye — making the architecture itself a vessel of culture. Each Journey is co-designed by cultural anthropologists and local guides, from the hoof prints of the Tea Horse Road to the ink fragrance of Dongba paper workshops, ensuring depth and authenticity.

Light Intervention · Deep Connection

Pugui adheres to the principle of "light intervention." All projects preserve the original landscape and ecology to the maximum extent, operating with zero plastic, local procurement, and community co-creation. The Shenguantun courtyard restoration used over 90% reclaimed local materials. The pine suites are built entirely from sustainably harvested timber within a 20km radius. The streamside suite's soaking tub is crafted from the river's own stones. We aspire for each Sanctuary to not only avoid disrupting the local ecosystem, but to become a catalyst for local cultural revival — passing on traditional craftsmanship and breathing new life into forgotten villages.