Creating marginality, building resilience: Tourism and everyday life in a Chinese surfing village

Abstract

This study explores the dual reality of Houhai Village, China, as it transforms from a traditional rural community into a burgeoning tourist destination. Driven primarily by external forces with capitalist characteristics, this shift has marginalised locals from and within tourism, altering the dynamics of everyday life. In the process, the parameters of resilience have been continually reshaped as they adapt to the power dynamics imposed by tourism in a rural setting. The transformation reflects the complex coexistence and interplay between external influences and local agency. The study proposes a conceptual framework to better understand the interplay of marginality with resilience, challenging neoliberal narratives of rural tourism and calling for broader investigations of local communities facing rapid change from rural tourism.