Investigating tourists’ and local residents’ perceptions of a Chinese film site

Media and tourism

In the 1970s, MacCannell (1976) stated that the popular media can construct or reinforce special images of travel destinations, thereby influencing the appeal of those destinations and activities and acting as “markers” of places that must be seen. Iwashita (2006) pointed out that popular cultural forms of the media

such as television, films, and books are accessible and a pervasive entertainment that is enjoyed and consumed by masses of people as a source of joy, pleasure, daydreaming, and fantasy as well as understanding of the world in every life. (p. 59)

Nowadays, there are three main forms of fictional screen-based media types that include cinema and television and, arguably, the Internet (Roesch, 2009). From the mid-twentieth century, film and television became the main mass entertainment media and have been particularly effective in affecting tourism for much of that period (Beeton, 2016). Many emotional representations are offered by popular culture, and Iwashita (2006) suggested that people will be seduced by the storylines and characters of literature, films, and television series, and will not just focus on the attractive physical properties of the settings of the stories.

MacCannell (1976) argued that the film’s role as a tourism marker allocates “meaning” to tourism attractions as well as signifying the attraction. Media have a strong influence upon people’s cognition and a film can provide a wealth of meaning—real and imagined—to audiences (Beeton, 2005, 2016). Therefore, it is suggested by Busby and Klug (2001) that film and television can permeate the individual’s life and thus form part of a person’s understanding of themselves and their society, and their own roles in that society. When people want to choose places for a holiday, media representations of tourist destinations can influence people’s destination images (Gunn, 1972; Hunt, 1975; Iwashita, 2006; O’Connor and Kim, 2014). Within the tourism research area, media-induced tourism has come to be labeled as film tourism (Hudson and Ritchie, 2006).

Film tourism

Film tourism has been defined as “tourist visits to a destination or attraction as a result of the destination being featured on the cinema screen, video or television” (Busby and Klug, 2001: 317). Roesch (2009) proposed that “film tourism is a specific pattern of tourism that drives tourists to see screened places during or after the production of a feature film or a television production” (p. 6). According to Beeton (2005):

film induced tourism takes a broad brush, applying the term to visitation to sites where movies and TV programmes have been filmed, as well as to tours to production studios, including film-related theme parks … tourist activity associated with the film industry, be it on-site in the field, or at (or near) the production studio. (p. 11)

Furthermore, based on different characteristics of films or television series, Beeton (2005) divided film tourism into six types that included “on-location travel, commercial travel, mistaken identities travel, off-location travel, one-off events film festivals or premieres, and arm-chair travel” (pp. 10–11). She then divided on-location film tourism into five categories, namely, (a) film tourism as a primary motive for travel to a particular destination (i.e. the strongest motivator for the trip is the film site itself, (b) film tourism as part of a holiday (i.e. tourists are motivated to visit filmed sites as a secondary activity within their holiday), (c) film tourism pilgrimage (i.e. tourists wish to trace a number of places associated with a given film, such as The Lord of the Rings (LOTR) in New Zealand), (d) celebrity film tourism (i.e. homes of celebrities such as Hollywood homes), and (e) nostalgic film tourism (tourists are motivated to visit another era associated with some film places, for example, Heartbeat that is set in the 1960s).

Film, while an important motivation, is not the sole reason for film tourists visiting a film set. A research study conducted by Singh and Best (2004) at the Hobbiton Movie Set found that the most important motivators were tourists attracted by the iconic attractions within the film trilogy LOTR, including the natural scenery, the film set, and the fantasy themes of LOTR.

Closely associated with film tourism is literary tourism. Busby and Klug (2001) indicated that both books and movies are different types of media, and there are similarities regarding their effects on tourist behavior. Furthermore, Roesch (2009) indicated that literature is often a precursor to subsequent film production. There are many studies (Busby and Klug, 2001) that indicate that many films and TV series are based on novels and short stories. For instance, Roesch (2009) researched 36 famous films, and found that 42 percent of these films were based on popular novels such as Harry Potter, The Da Vinci Code, and LOTR. Moreover, Iwashita (2006) found that the film’s literary precursors are the most likely motivators that attract tourists to the filmed places. Therefore, literary precursors can be a decisive factor that might turn films into tourism-inducing events (Roesch, 2009). In an earlier study Eagle and Carnell (1977) wrote that

there is a fascination about places associated with writers that has often prompted readers to become pilgrims: to visit a birthplace and contemplate the surroundings of an author’s childhood, to see with fresh eyes places that inspired poems or books, to pay homage at a grave side or public memorial. (p. v)

O’Connor and Kim (2014) found that

both literary and film tourism have a positive effect on the related destinations due to an increased growth in their tourism arrivals once the location was referred to in a book and afterwards used as the setting in the related film. (p. 1)

Herbert (1996, 2001) described three key reasons that attract tourists to literary places. First, tourists are attracted by the personal life histories of writers, such as former homes in which a writer lived and worked. Second, tourists are interested in the settings of novels: “Fiction may be set in locations that writers knew and there is a merging of the real and the imagined that gives such places a special meaning, and fictional characters and events often generate the strongest imagery” (Hebert, 2001: 314). Third, tourists may be drawn to literary sites due to a desire to have a broader and deeper emotional experience with the novels. For example, Squire (1994) found that many tourists had a deep attachment to Hill Top Farm, a former home of Beatrix Potter, in Cumbria (related to the book The Tale of Peter Rabbit), due to the location evoking memories and emotions from their childhood. Furthermore, many tourists want to be educated about the life and works of the writer, and these tourists are “literary pilgrims” (Pocock, 1992).

Busby and Klug (2001) and Roesch (2009) indicated that people are film tourists when they are seeking or searching sites or destinations seen in their favorite films or television programs. Tourists may feel dissatisfied if experiences do not match prior perception and feel satisfied if the actual experience matches the hyper-real expectation (Carl et al., 2007). However, within English language studies, little research exists which focuses on local residents’ use of Chinese heritage sites and the way in which they interact with tourists at such places (Su and Wall, 2014).

Film tourism in China

Chinese film tourism can be divided into three stages: the first stage was from 1896 to 1986, the second stage was from 1986 to 2000, and the third stage covering the early years of the twenty-first century until the present day (Zhang and Ryan, 2018). In the first stage, the Chinese tourism industry lacked a consciousness that film could induce tourism (Liu and Liu, 2004). Nevertheless, some filmed destinations and cities became popular as a result of the release of films such as the ancient Guilin (Liu Sanjie, released in 1960), Dali (Ashima, released in 1964), Shaolin Temple (Shaolin Temple, released in 1982), Lushan (A Love Story of Lushan, released in 1980) (Wu, 2011). In 1987, the earliest nationally developed and constructed film studio, Wuxi Movie and TV Base, marked the beginning of Chinese film tourism (Liu and Liu, 2004). After that, many famous television series adapted from famous literary works, such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms (1994), and Water Margin (1998) were filmed at Wuxi Movie and TV Base, triggering a surge of film and TV tourism in China. Furthermore, many theme parks and film sets were constructed in the late 1980s, such as the Grand View Garden and Hibiscus Town. Li and Beeton (2011) pointed out that “the phenomenon of film tourism locations unintendedly becoming famous along with the films shot there became evident in the 1990s.” For example, Raise the Red Lantern, directed by a famous Chinese director, Zhang Yimou, was filmed in Shanxi province in 1991, and the filmed place, Qiao Family Courtyard, became a famous tourist attraction after the film was released (Li and Beeton, 2011). In the third stage, with the rapid development of new media and patterns of information dissemination changing greatly, tourists are now able to obtain tourism-related information earlier in order to design their travel routes and choose activities directly or indirectly. The online big data showed that 42 percent of the post-1990s generation visited a site or destination as a result of the place being featured in their favorite films, TV series, or cartoons; popular destinations such as Sri Lanka (the cartoon Spirited Away), and Tokyo (the film Your Name) are some examples (Report on the Research of the Travel Styles by the Post-90s Generation, 2017). In addition, films and locations become famous together during this stage, and local governments take the initiative to achieve a tourism effect through partnerships with famous film directors (Li and Beeton, 2011).

Red and Grand View Garden

The novel Red is generally regarded as the greatest, most beloved and enduring novel in the history of Chinese literature. It is regarded as an encyclopedia of Chinese feudal society, especially the life and culture of the Ming and Qing dynasties. In 1984, a replica of the garden was built in strict accordance with the novel’s description, and the construction took over 5 years. Many experts from different industries were involved in the construction, including famous horticulturists, architects, archeologists, folklorists, and experts on the history of the novel. Grand View Garden has great significance for many different industries, including Redologists, who dubbed it another dream out of Red; the construction industry that sought to retain the essence of Red culture, ancient building technologies, and traditional Chinese landscape art; and the heritage sector, who pointed out that the garden is an important cultural heritage site (Beijing Grand View Garden, 2017). Based on the purpose of this research, this study adopted qualitative research methods to explore both tourists’ and local residents’ perceptions.

Face-to-face semi-structured interviews

Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were employed to investigate both tourists and residents’ attitudes about Grand View Garden. Semi-structured interviews provide a more relaxed interview environment that does not constrain the participant to follow the researcher’s prior reasoning, meaning researchers can then determine multiple views and record both verbal and non-verbal perceptions during interviews (Jennings, 2010). Semi-structured interviews are non-standardized. For example, in this study, the order of the interview questions may change depending on what direction the interview takes, and additional questions may be asked just based on the then current interview condition (Gray, 2014). In this study, six key interview themes formed the structure of the interviews, including reasons for visiting the Garden, attitudes and perceptions of the Garden, knowledge of Red television series and novel, and suggestions for improving the Garden. Data from 40 interviews (including 20 tourists and 20 local residents) were analyzed using thematic analysis and textual analysis software. The length of the interviews ranged from 40 minutes to 1 hour.

To select and approach potential tourist and resident participants

To achieve the purpose, the researcher also experienced the Garden as a tourist and attended special events based on the novel or television series that are held at the Garden, and thereby shared the emotions felt by tourists and residents. In this study, over an 8-month period, the researcher visited the Garden multiple times as a tourist and was able to attend some special performances held there. Figure 1 provides an example of the beautiful landscape of the Garden. This visit experience is important, as not only does it enable a researcher to observe the behavior of both tourists and residents, and thus better understand their attitudes, but it is also useful for other research processes such as the semi-structured interviews. Consequently, during this period, many photographs of the Garden and its tourists and local residents were taken by the researcher.

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Figure 1.

Grand View Garden.

For the selection of participants, the resident respondents chose local residents who were living in the immediate area of the Garden. They have the opportunity to buy a monthly or annual ticket, and are often playing cards or mahjong, and are undertaking morning exercises in the garden. Figure 2 shows the residents playing harmonicas beside bamboo trees with several people standing around watching and listening. The tourist interviewees will be sightseeing tourists, who buy an entry ticket to visit the garden. All the interviews were conducted at the Garden. The researcher approached potential respondents and initially tried to talk to them. According to the researcher’s experience, the process of approaching tourist participants is quite different from approaching residents. For tourist participants, most were visiting the garden for the first time, and they usually paid attention to sightseeing and photography. The researcher used different ways of approaching them, such as introducing the main attractions and offering to guide the tourists for free and take pictures for them. In fact, many tourists were unwilling to spend 100 RMB per hour to hire a guide, even though they were not familiar with the garden. Therefore, they were happy if the researcher volunteered to introduce the Garden to them or gave them material about the site. During the process, the researcher was able to build good relationships and become familiar with the tourists through introducing the attractions, talking about Red and the characters, as well as introducing herself and the research project. An interesting fact is that many respondents (both tourists and residents) were more interested in the researcher’s foreign study and life experience than the research, and always asked many questions about the researcher’s life and study abroad.

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Figure 2.

Two men playing harmonicas.

These conversations would bring the researcher and respondents closer together, and helped during the later interviews. After completing a visit, the researcher asked whether they would mind answering a few questions about why they had visited the gardens and what they felt about the experience. If the respondent agreed, the researcher asked whether the respondent wanted to do an interview. For the data recording, both the use of a voice recorder and written note-taking were found to be good ways for the researcher to record the respondents’ opinion accurately. Furthermore, the researcher also helped tourists to take photos if she or he wanted. As some tourists visited the garden alone, he or she needed another person to take photos for him or her. Also, although some tourists visited the garden with friends or family, they still wanted group photos at some landmark attractions, such as the South Gate of the Garden. The researcher was always happy to help tourists to take photos, and in appreciation of this help, some tourists were also pleased to participate in an interview or questionnaire survey. The way to approach resident participants is quite different from tourists. As many local residents visit the Garden almost every day, some of them were familiar with the researcher and always chatted with her. In order to experience residents’ attitudes, the researcher often participated in their physical exercises and recreational activities, and selected potential respondents to interview.

The sample

In this study, tourists’ social-demographic features are quite different from those of local residents (See Table 1). Young tourists aged between 17 and 30 years account for a large proportion of the total sample (accounting for 70% of the total sample in the interview research), while the majority of local residents are middle-aged and elderly people. Furthermore, most tourists had a degree, usually a first degree, while the average of the local residents’ educational levels was lower than tourists. One thing should be noticed that the older respondents have lower formal educational qualifications reflecting past Chinese educational provision. The common occupations of tourists were student, white-collar, and managerial positions, while most residents were retired.

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Table 1.

Respondents’ characteristics.

Characteristics	Tourists	Residents
Gender	Females (65%)	Females (35%)
	Males (35%)	Males (65%)
Age	Aged between 17 and 30 years (70%)	Aged over 50 years (80%)
Occupation	Have a job or students (85%); retired (15%)	Retired (65%)
Education	Have a bachelor degree or above (80%)	Have a high school degree or below (70%)
Native place	From other provinces (100%)	Live near the Garden (90%)

Some tourist respondents are working and living in Beijing but their native place is not Beijing.

Positive perceptions

For residents, most were satisfied with the Garden. Some had an especially deep emotional attachment with the Garden, as visiting it was an important part of their daily life for several years. From Table 2, it can be seen that both tourists and residents expressed positive perceptions about the Garden’s environment, like “beautiful scenery,” “good environment,” “quiet,” and “lovely setting for relaxation.”

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Table 2.

Comparison of tourists and local residents’ positive perceptions.

Satisfactory attributes	Tourists	Residents
Beautiful scenery	♪♪♪	♪♪♪
Good environment	♪♪♪	♪♪♪
Quiet	♪♪♪	♪♪♪
Clean	♪	♪
Lovely setting for relaxation	♪♪♪	♪♪♪
Unique Garden with profound cultural significance	♪♪♪	♪♪♪
Classical architecture	♪♪♪	♪
Red culture	♪♪♪	♪♪♪
Better understand Red	♪♪	O
Learnt a lot about antiquity	♪♪	O

Note: ♪♪♪ = important mentioned (more than 15 respondents mentioned); ♪♪ = mentioned (10 to 15 respondents mentioned); ♪ = few mentioned (less than 10 respondents mentioned); O = rarely mentioned (no respondents mentioned).

Furthermore, both tourists and residents mentioned the Garden as “unique with profound cultural significance,” such as the tourist interviewees who pointed out that the Garden “turned a fictitious Garden into reality,” “a place of stories,” “the one Red film set built in strict accordance with Red novel,” and “a place to recall the memory of Red.” For residents, although they used the Garden as a recreational park, half of the respondents thought the Garden was unique with its Red culture –so very different from other parks in Beijing. In addition, some satisfactory attributes seemed more important to tourists than residents, such as “classical architecture,” “better understand Red,” and “learnt a lot about antiquity.”

Negative perceptions

For negative perceptions, it seemed that tourists had more negative points than residents. From the tourists’ point of view, more attention was paid to the “interpretation service,” “low-quality souvenirs,” and “the authenticity of scenes.” For the interpretation service, tourists complained about the Garden’s poor interpretation service such as the lack of detailed introductions to attractions, introductory words, maps, signposts, and guides (Table 3). An interpretation service could influence tourists’ experience, especially in such heritage or cultural sites like the Grand View Garden (Io, 2013). While interpretation is the art that makes history real, the output of the boxes can be marvelous through the input of imagination and good research. Furthermore, “the acquisition of souvenirs is an essential part of a satisfactory film location experience” (Roesch, 2009: 175). In the Grand View Garden, the current low-quality souvenirs and products cannot satisfy tourists’ purchasing needs.

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Table 3.

Comparison of tourists and local residents’ negative perceptions.

Unsatisfactory attributes	Tourists	Residents
Small	♪♪♪	♪
Low-quality commercial shops and souvenirs	♪♪♪	♪
Lacks cultural/classical atmosphere	♪♪	♪
Expensive entry ticket price	♪♪♪	♪♪
Poor interpretation service	♪♪♪	O
Lacks facilities’ maintenance	♪♪♪	♪♪♪
Unclean water/restroom	♪♪	♪♪
Cold and desolate winter	♪♪	♪
Low-quality performance	♪♪♪	♪♪♪
Lacks performance	♪♪♪	♪
Not match expectations	♪♪♪	O
The authenticity of scenes	♪♪♪	O

Note: ♪♪♪ = important mentioned (more than 15 respondents mentioned); ♪♪ = mentioned (10 to 15 respondents mentioned); ♪ = few mentioned (less than 10 respondents mentioned); O = rarely mentioned (no respondents mentioned).

Improving the Red culture

Both tourist and resident interviewees attached importance to the retention of the heritage and culture of the Garden. However, now the Garden is operating as a normal park, with “commercial shops,” “low-quality performances,” “lacks maintenance,” “unclean restroom/water,” “low-quality performance,” and “a lack of cultural atmosphere” mentioned by both tourists and residents. The respondents suggested the Grand View Garden’s future development should attach importance to Red culture. They considered the Grand View Garden as a unique Garden with profound and significant Red cultural meanings. Although local residents used the Garden as a recreational park, they thought the Garden differed from other parks because of the unique cultural meanings.

The data results showed many tourists considered the novel Red as one of the most important reasons for visiting the site. Among the respondents, many labeled themselves a “Red fanatic” and liked “Red” very much. Yet those respondents who selected this as their main reason for their visit often nominated supplementary reasons, such as interest in “Red culture,” and “to experience a cultural or classical atmosphere.”

For example, of the tourist respondents, the oldest one was aged 88 years. She visited the Gardens supported by her families as she found it difficult to walk. Her sons and daughters told the researcher that, actually, they did not want their mother to come to Beijing and visit the Garden as she was old and had poor health. But their mother likes Red very much, and always had a dream, namely, to visit the Garden. They were afraid that maybe their mother now had few opportunities to visit the Garden as she was growing older and in poor health. Thus, in order to satisfy her dream, they accompanied their mother to Beijing to visit the Garden. Although it was difficult for the old woman to visit, she was very much enjoying her visit. She said,

… I like “The Dream of Red Mansions (Red)” very much. I have a dream, which is to see the Grand View Garden of my dream while I still have the energy to walk. I want to see the beautiful scenic backgrounds of the featured destination, and experience the “Red” cultural atmosphere … It is not an ordinary garden, the most special feature is (that it is) the only Grand View Garden built in strict accordance with the “Red” novel, and the only film set used in the filming of the television series of “Red.” It is a “Red” cultural museum and heritage, and a place for us to recall the memory of “Red.” (Female, 88 years old)

Red is an important motivator for tourists to visit the Garden. Most respondents had read the Red novel and watched the TV series, with many tourists having done so repeatedly. The interview transcripts revealed that some respondents wanted to see the scenes depicted in Red TV series or described in the novel being reenacted in the Gardens, as well as being able to explore whether the real Garden matched the description in the novel or TV series. From Figure 3, the Dendogram cluster analysis of tourists’ motivations showed a close relationship between the words “see” and “TV scenes” that were related to tourists’ motivation to “see the scenes depicted in ‘the Dream of Red Mansions’ television series.” In film tourism, tourists visit a destination as a result of personally possessing a viewing experience of the place being featured or portrayed as the back drop to a TV series (Kim, 2010). Wu et al. (2007) pointed out that tourists hope to experience the real scenes or images seen in film or on television, and to explore the differences between the films and the reality of the site. The following quotes illustrate these themes in this study:

I want to see some filmed scenes that were shown on the “Red” TV series, whether the real scenes are the same as the TV series, and same as in my imagination. (Male, 36 years old)

… I like “Dream of Red Mansions” very much from an early age. I am always curious about the filmed scenes, so I come to the Garden to satisfy both my interest and curiosity … (Female, 24 years old)

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Figure 3.

Dendogram cluster analysis about tourists’ motivations from interviews.

However, many tourists complained that the real scenes were different from the novel or TV series, and that the Garden differed from their prior expectations, as films have pre-visit roles, tourists’ experiences at such film sites are different from other tourism destinations (Croy and Heitmann, 2011). Tourists may have in their own imagination the destination image before visiting, and compare the difference between the real scenes and their prior expectations (Kim, 2010). The Grand View Garden is always labeled as “the only Garden built in accordance with the Red novel description and the Red film set.” However, now there are many tourists doubting the authenticity of the built set. Kim and Wang (2012) indicated that film tourists have the motivation of “quest for authenticity,” such as tourists motivated to see the scenes described in the Red novel or depicted in the TV series. Most tourists’ impressions of the Grand View Garden were derived from the Red novel or television series. They imagined the Garden as big, beautiful, spectacular, luxurious, and delicate. However, both the buildings and facilities of the Garden are beginning to look old and dilapidated, which is not surprising as, after all, the site is some 30 years old. Thus, tourists felt dissatisfaction because the actual experience did not match their prior expectations. Therefore, maintaining and protecting the original scenes and facilities is very important to the Garden’s future development.

Furthermore, half of the resident respondents also mentioned that the Garden is unique with its Red culture. As one respondent commented,

… To be a native Beijinger, I am familiar with Beijing gardens. There are not only emperor gardens like The Palace Museum, The Summer Palace, and Winter Palace, but also many recreational parks in Beijing. Only Grand View Garden is unique, which was built in accordance with the Red novel. Grand View Garden is the most special garden in Beijing and has an important significance to spread Red culture, which is overlooked by most tourists and governments. Just like someone has a jewel, but is still trying to find others. Further, there are many gardens that are now free to tourists, but Grand View Garden is not, why? Just because Grand View Garden has a unique and cultural content, and is not just a recreational park … (No. 16)

Here, local residents’ views are consistent with those of tourists. Although many people used the Garden as a recreational place, they always considered the Garden as a cultural garden with unique significance and different from other parks. Some respondents expressed a view that the Garden is a significant place for young people to know or learn Chinese classical culture, and indicated that the government has a responsibility to protect and support the Garden. As one male respondent said with some emotion,

… To be an important part of Chinese classical culture, Red culture needs to be inherited by the next generation. So it should be free to students … Grand View Garden should disseminate the culture and let more people know Chinese classical culture, which is the government’s responsibility. Due to the low quality of national sentiment now, the government should let more people learn traditional Chinese ethics, as well as enhance people’s education about cultural quality. The government should invest money to support it … (No. 6)

It is interesting that some residents indicated that the entry ticket price was expensive. Although residents do not need to buy tickets, they thought the expensive price was not beneficial to spreading Chinese classical and Red culture, especially to students. Compared to other Beijing attractions and parks, the Grand View Garden’s ticket price was very high.