Interview with Zhang Yu on Qunar’s Technical Evolution, DDD Adoption, Container Migration, and ITCP Alliance

Zhang Yu , Vice President of Technology at Qunar, recounts the company’s growth from a small startup to a major OTA over 18 years, focusing on system architecture evolution, digitalization, and team empowerment.

Innovation and consolidation are the core of continuous improvement

Qunar R&D Learning Center: As an alumnus, what would you like to say to Qunar?

Zhang Yu: I am excited and moved by Qunar’s 18‑year journey. The OTA industry brings happiness to users, and technology has always been the backbone supporting booking, internal efficiency, and cost reduction.

He emphasizes the importance of technology in both past and future development.

Qunar R&D Learning Center: How has the technology team adapted during the pandemic, and what results were achieved?

Zhang Yu explains three major initiatives:

1. Using Domain‑Driven Design (DDD) to refactor complex airline‑hotel business systems, creating extensive best‑practice documentation and sharing it externally.

2. Migrating the underlying infrastructure from KVM to containers within six months, a rapid transformation that impressed peers.

3. Digitizing the “five technical elements” (advancement, quality, cost, user experience, delivery efficiency) to quickly identify gaps, measure impact, and devise solutions, thereby driving cost reduction and efficiency gains.

He offers to share these experiences with interested peers, especially members of the ITCP alliance.

Qunar R&D Learning Center: Why does the technology center focus on brand building?

Zhang Yu attributes it to a simple belief: “I help others, others help me.” This openness, dedication, and trust foster a collaborative spirit that gradually builds a strong tech brand.

Qunar R&D Learning Center: What inspired the creation of the Internet Technology Collaboration Platform (ITCP) alliance?

Zhang Yu wanted a model for deep, small‑scale technical exchanges that go beyond the superficial content of large industry conferences, enabling practical, implementable knowledge sharing.

Qunar R&D Learning Center: How do you view the investments made in the ITCP alliance?

Zhang Yu believes the investment is worthwhile, yielding both visible short‑term benefits (e.g., improved recruitment, higher team morale) and long‑term, less tangible returns that will manifest over time.

Qunar R&D Learning Center: What is your assessment of the alliance’s development?

He reports six member companies, collaborations with vertical media, and extensive sharing of DDD, high‑concurrency, architecture, big data, and cloud‑native lessons. The alliance has organized offline events, produced case‑study videos, and reached nearly one million external impressions, achieving an 83% positive rating for technical excellence.

Qunar R&D Learning Center: What are your expectations for the alliance’s future?

Zhang Yu stresses staying true to the alliance’s core values—co‑creation, mutual respect, and solving real problems—while inviting more companies to join and contribute ideas.

Qunar R&D Learning Center: What advice would you give to other internet companies building a technology brand?

He outlines three key points: (1) relentlessly improve personal and team capabilities to deliver concrete, problem‑solving content; (2) maintain patience and perseverance, as brand building is a long‑term effort; (3) develop a systematic, multi‑channel promotion strategy to ensure the brand’s visibility and impact.

Cost‑Reduction and Efficiency Theme – Technical Conference Preview

Qunar will present the "Qunar Cost‑Reduction and Efficiency Practice Path" sharing on June 10.

Don’t miss it if you are interested!

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