He received his Ph.D. in sociology from Renmin University of China in 2011. His research interests are sociology of religion, ethnic minority religious affairs, and the intersection of religion and tourism. He is the author of Religious Tourism in Yunnan Province (Renmin Press 2012), Reconstruction of Rituals: Revival of Confucianism in Jianshui County, Yunnan Province (Basu Press 2012), and numerous article articles and book chapters.