A Study On Recognition Of Urban Cultural Attrctions And Local Features From The Perspective Of Tourists

As a major industry, tourism plays a crucial role in the economy of China. In terms of the structure of tourism industry, cultural attractions are at the core. Local governments have launched great efforts to explore the in-depth development of cultural attractions and urban tourism,and remarkable achievements have been made. However, how do visitors view the cultural attractions? How do they perceive the local features? The paper will explore the analysis of the viewpoints of visitors. It is expected to benefit the urban development by showing the fantastic and unique cultural attractions and local features.The authors'research will be presented in three sections:research contents, researching methods and conclusion.The first step is to figure out the shaping of the cultural attractions. By collecting data, the author tries to analyze geographical, historical, economic, and cultural aspects through relevant literature. Take Dalian as an example. The study has found out that cultural attractions resulted from the interaction of various forces, in which the natural forces are the most fundamental ones, while political, socio-economic and cultural forces are the decisive. Dalian urban culture has undergone a long evolutionary process. Historical development of Dalian is divided into five stages. In the first stage, Dalian was an ancient fishing town with beautiful natural scenery; in the second stage, Dalian formed some of its cultural attractions because of the tsarist Russian colonialism; thirdly, the invasion of the Japanese during the Second World War resulted in some more cultural attractions. Fourthly, industrialization helped it develop the port areas. Finally, fashionable sights have turned Dalian into a modern city. When discussing the first stage, five periods are divided:ancient time, Zhan Dynasty, Han Dynasty, the Dynasties of Tang&Song and the Dynasties of Ming&Qing. As for the second stage, the thesis does the analysis by grouping Dalian into Lvshun part and the downtown part. When it comes to the third stage, the primary period, the middle period and the last period are discussed respectively. However, for the fourth and fifth stages, the discussion is generally done without doing any division.In the second part of this thesis, the author will focus on tourists'recognition and understanding of the cultural attractions. Again,Dalian serves as an example. Interviews and field observations have been analyzed to understand the cultural attractions. According to the study, cultural attractions are viewed differently by many people. Therefore the thesis classifies them into five categories:coastal areas, architectural landscapes, cultural squares, festivals and daily life. Dalian has beaches and landscapes. The coastal seascapes are the most prominent; these include Coastal Road, Golden Pebble Beach as two of the most prominent. Dalian is surrounded with seas in three sides. Moist coastal weather, clean air, golden beaches and clear waters have a decisively positive impact on Dalian environment and make the city very livable. With distinctive architectural cityscapes, Dalian is inherently full of "foreign flavor." With the mix of Western and Eastern architectural styles, as well as Northern and Southern Chinese architectural features, Dalian is known as the museum of architectural styles. City squares in Dalian are modern and unique examples of architectural cityscape. They serve as landmarks in Dalian. Squares in Dalian have their own characteristics. Firstly, Dalian has the largest number of squares in China:Friendship Square, Renmin Square, Shengli Square, Zhongshan Square, Erqi Square,etc.Secondly, Dalian has numerous types of square designs. Thirdly, most of the squares have their own stories reflecting the distinctive characteristics. The great variety of festivals in Dalian constitutes another attraction:Firework Festival, Sophora Festive, Beer Festival, Fashion Festival and Walkthon.... Dalian is known as the Garden City and the residents enjoy the "blue skies, clean waters, green mountains, and quiet and calm nights."The third part of the thesis is to study the tourists'recognition and understanding of the local features. Based on the interviews conducted, three topics will be discussed. The author will explore the spirit of the city, the characteristics of the city and the local residents'daily life. Again, Dalian is taken as an example. In terms of spirit, Dalian is defined as an inclusive, fashionable, creative, enterprising and romantic city. Dalian's citizens are characterized as being kind, frank, hospitable and proud. In reference to the local residents'daily life, strong dialect, delicious seafood and well-dressed women and men make the citizens'daily life happy and special.Creativity is the life of academic research and this research is unique at this point. Firstly, the research reflects unique perspectives. It is different from others conducted by the government or the public agencies. Secondly, the methodology, qualitative research methods are used by providing abundant photographs, maps and charts. Thirdly, is it original and reveals new results. In the shaping of the cultural attractions of Dalian, the thesis proposes five evolutional stages. As for visitors'perspective, this thesis sums up the basic types of Dalian cultural attractions. In reference to local features, three points are established:the spirit of the city, the characteristics of the city and the residents'daily life. These aspects are expected to help further the development of local tourism resources.Nevertheless, due to limited time and research methodology, faults and shortcomings are inevitable. The study should be replicated on multiple levels and reveal more about the cultural landscapes and local features of Dalian. However, due to limited time and the author's ability, there is still a long way to run.