Tourist Gaze at Chinese Classical Gardens: The Embodiment of Aesthetics (Yijing) in Tourism

Abstract

Classical gardens offer ample cultural and natural landscapes for visitors to appreciate. Taking the tourist gaze as a theoretical lens, this study assumes a netnographic approach and conducts narrative analysis on travel blogs to explore visitors’ experiences at Chinese classical gardens. Findings revealed key domains of the gaze object (i.e., macro-level structural design and micro-level elements) and the way of gaze (i.e., spatial and temporal), which formed the Chinese gaze in the tourism context. Results further showed how gaze contributed to Yijing development, a unique Chinese aesthetic concept. This study enriches the tourism and aesthetics literature by positioning a classical aesthetic concept (Yijing) within a modern tourism practice (gaze). Practical implications for tourism development and destination marketing are provided.