Rural tourism in China: ‘Root-seeking’ and construction of national identity

Abstract

This study explores the role of China's rural tourism in building domestic tourists' national identity, with a model illustrating the construction path and causality. In-depth interviews were conducted with domestic tourists, and grounded theory was adopted as the qualitative analysis method. The conceptualised theoretical framework suggests that with embodied experience as the premise, feelings and emotions, cognition and learning, and collective memory are the main attributes influencing national identity. Under the combined influence of these factors, strong emotional bonding, awareness of unity, and cognition of the characteristics of their own ‘community’ are generated, effectively shaping and strengthening national identity. These findings also serve as a practical reference for strengthening national identity and improving the management of rural tourism destinations.