Taijiquan, genius loci and tourism: a participant observation about Chenjiagou
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18002/rama.v17i1.7029Keywords:
Martial arts, tai chi, tourism, cultural tourism, UNESCO, intangible cultural heritageAbstract
This essay analyses the key concepts enunciated by the international literature on martial arts tourism – and of the even broader category of cultural tourism. It combines notes produced by a participant observation and the images produced by the first author himself. The result is the illustration of a particular case of martial arts tourism included in the decade 2009-2018 and focused on Chenjiagou (Chen village), a village in inland China (Wen county, Henan province, People's Republic of China). Here tourists – attracted by the peculiar spirit of the place, genius loci, expressed in the landscape and in the local customs and reinforced by recurring or occasional celebrations – are contributing to the local economic development and urban improvement, by creating an informal planetary-scale network through the common interest in the martial art of taijiquan.
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