The Essence Lies in the Mundane:An Exploratory Study on the Tourist Experience of Urban Yanhuo Chi
The concept of Yanhuo Chi,literally translated as the smell of cooking,imbued with Chinese cultural elements and intimately tied to the lives of Chinese people,has introduced a unique vibrancy into urban leisure and tourist experiences.Despite its significance,Yanhuo Chi has yet to garner attention in the academic realm,thereby presenting a critical direction for further deepening of tourism experience theory.This paper introduces the traditional Chinese concept of Yanhuo Chi into the context of tourism research,using Yanhuo Chi as a lens to explore and examine the urban tourist experience.Through in-depth interviews with 29 tourists and grounded theory analysis,we have gleaned insights into the process by which tourists experience Yanhuo Chi,and have constructed a theoretical model of urban Yanhuo Chi tourist experience based on the"cognition-emotion-behavior"framework.The results demonstrate that Yanhuo Chi bridges the dichotomy of ordinary,mundane everyday life and exciting,novel tourism contexts,perfectly illustrating the colorful,intertwined experiences of urban leisure tourism and everyday life.Key findings include:Yanhuo Chi encompasses both tangible and intangible attributes;in the context of Yanhuo Chi,food,linked through specific social relationships,plays a healing role for tourist emotions;Yanhuo Chi possesses the ability to shape social relationships,memory,and emotions.Tourist's imaginings and feelings of"home"can be translocated to cross-cultural"other places",fostering emotional solidarity with locals and other individuals through reciprocal Yanhuo Chi interactions,while shaping tourist identity.The emotional experience of Yanhuo Chi includes elements of excitement and exhilaration,but is primarily characterized by calm pleasure,indicative of the emotional overflow of Yanhuo Chi,enhancing the emotional energy of the tourist experience.This study makes significant theoretical contributions to urban tourism experiences,everyday life aesthetics,and sense of place.Specifically,it innovatively explores Yanhuo Chi as a cultural symbol of urban destination,systematically constructing the academic concept of Yanhuo Chi and bringing new thinking to urban tourism experience research.It also reveals the process of Yanhuo Chi tourist experience,enriching foundational theory based on tourist emotional experience.Furthermore,it uncovers the crucial role of tourist's"hometown"sentiments under the perception of Yanhuo Chi in the formation mechanism of destination place identification,contributing to the deepening of research on urban tourist sense of place.In addition,this paper offers practical insights into crafting Yanhuo Chi experience consumption for urban tourism authorities,policy makers,and practitioners,and provides suggestions for tourists seeking travel meaning and life happiness within Yanhuo Chi.Finally,future research directions and suggestions include exploring differences in Yanhuo Chi perceptions between tourists and locals,the potential differences in the context of Yanhuo Chi perception in rural versus urban tourism,the influence of foreign culture on outbound tourists'perception of Yanhuo Chi,and how the layered and dynamic nature of tourism emotional experience can be fully captured.
Yuahuo Chitourist experienceemotional experiencefoodsense of place
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