San Mao (三毛) was much more than just a writer – her curiosity about the world influenced generations of young Chinese and Taiwanese. Though she ended her life at the age of 47, her memory remains alive. On Chinese social media platforms like Xiaohongshu, numerous pages are dedicated to her work. Her former residences, such as in Telde on Gran Canaria or El Aaiún in Western Sahara, have become pilgrimage sites for Chinese-speaking globetrotters, for whom San Mao is a kind of patron saint. „Life experience is more important than material possessions,“ she wrote in her autobiographical work Sahara Story (撒哈拉的故事), published in 1976 and released in English for the first time in 2024. More and more young Chinese share her perspective, seeking alternative lifestyles in places like Yunnan and Chiang Mai.