The domestic tourist in post-Tiananmen China: A conceptual framework

Social life in China has been transformed in the post-Tiananmen era, and the recent boom in domestic tourism is one transformation that has received little attention from social scientists. This thesis argues that a grounded study of China's domestic tourists is important not only for understanding the way tourism is changing in China, but also the role urban, "middle class" Chinese play in the popular reimagination of China as a place and a nation. The tourist has an active, constitutive role in social life, one that in contrast to metaphorical interpretations of the tourist experience is necessarily situated in a specific time and place. A conceptual background is developed to contextualize contemporary tourism practices within broader changes, notably rising incomes, changing leisure practices, and increased mobility. Starting points for a grounded study are suggested, especially with regard to popular interest in the Tibetan areas of western China.