Let's be honest, Ctrip was very much seen in the West as a giant of the Chinese online travel scene, but perhaps not much else.
It had faced down the Expedia Inc-backed eLong and was busily doing its own thing - albeit with huge numbers given the size of the (growing) market it served.
But then the Priceline Group invested two huge tranches of $500 million in the company in both 2014 and 2015 and people started to take notice a little more.
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Fast forward to November 2016 and Ctrip bought Skyscanner for $1.8 billion.
This followed its investment earlier that year in MakeMyTrip - and, suddenly, Ctrip was a brand with global ambitions.
It has recently bankrolled the acquisition of Trip.com to become part of the Skyscanner family (see our PundIT Show featuring Trip.com CEO Travis Katz).
In this wide-ranging interview at The Phocuswright Conference, chief financial officer Cindy Wang explains the company's acquisition strategy and a lot more.
Executive Interview: Ctrip