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Traveling Through the Gulf: Tourism Geopolitics among Chinese Tourists in Travel Narratives

Wei, Yujia LU (2026) SIMZ11 20261
Master of Science in Global Studies
Abstract
This thesis examines how Chinese tourists construct geographical imaginations of the Gulf region and understand China–Gulf relations through travel experiences. The study integrates Critical geopolitics and Feminist geopolitics as its theoretical framework, viewing tourism as an everyday practice through which geopolitical meanings are produced and negotiated. Methodologically, the research uses travel narratives from the Chinese tourism platform Mafengwo, and applies both thematic analysis and word frequency analysis to explore tourists’ perceptions and experiences of the Gulf region. The findings show that tourists’ geographical imaginations are gradually reconstruct through an embodied mechanism, which can also be considered as a... (More)
This thesis examines how Chinese tourists construct geographical imaginations of the Gulf region and understand China–Gulf relations through travel experiences. The study integrates Critical geopolitics and Feminist geopolitics as its theoretical framework, viewing tourism as an everyday practice through which geopolitical meanings are produced and negotiated. Methodologically, the research uses travel narratives from the Chinese tourism platform Mafengwo, and applies both thematic analysis and word frequency analysis to explore tourists’ perceptions and experiences of the Gulf region. The findings show that tourists’ geographical imaginations are gradually reconstruct through an embodied mechanism, which can also be considered as a dynamic process related to different period of travel. Tourists also interpret China–Gulf relations through their everyday encounters with infrastructure, culture, and economic cooperation. Among these narratives, forms of everyday nationalism can also be revealed. The study contributes to tourism geopolitics by highlighting the role of ordinary people in the construction of global geopolitical meanings and by providing a Global South perspective on China–Middle East relations. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Wei, Yujia LU
supervisor
organization
course
SIMZ11 20261
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
tourism geopolitics, geographical imagination, Chinese tourists, Gulf region, China–Gulf relations
language
English
id
9232090
date added to LUP
2026-06-25 09:37:02
date last changed
2026-06-25 09:37:02
@misc{9232090,
  abstract     = {{This thesis examines how Chinese tourists construct geographical imaginations of the Gulf region and understand China–Gulf relations through travel experiences. The study integrates Critical geopolitics and Feminist geopolitics as its theoretical framework, viewing tourism as an everyday practice through which geopolitical meanings are produced and negotiated. Methodologically, the research uses travel narratives from the Chinese tourism platform Mafengwo, and applies both thematic analysis and word frequency analysis to explore tourists’ perceptions and experiences of the Gulf region. The findings show that tourists’ geographical imaginations are gradually reconstruct through an embodied mechanism, which can also be considered as a dynamic process related to different period of travel. Tourists also interpret China–Gulf relations through their everyday encounters with infrastructure, culture, and economic cooperation. Among these narratives, forms of everyday nationalism can also be revealed. The study contributes to tourism geopolitics by highlighting the role of ordinary people in the construction of global geopolitical meanings and by providing a Global South perspective on China–Middle East relations.}},
  author       = {{Wei, Yujia}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Traveling Through the Gulf: Tourism Geopolitics among Chinese Tourists in Travel Narratives}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}