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what early Western travellers to Shanghai and
Beijing perceived and depicted in early travel-
ogues. It suggests that Chinese tourists are likely
to require a shallow experience, which will not
confl ict with what is possibly a liminal state that
they enter whilst in 'Elsewhereland'.
Liminality in tourism is usually associated
with a process that the act of travelling inspires
whereby a tourist leaves a familiar place (separa-
tion) to a destination (liminality in that it feels
more dreamlike than the more familiar home-
space) and then returns to the familiar place
(reintegration) (McKercher and Bauer, 2003). The
dreamlike state described by Arlt (2008) could be
a mechanism that these Chinese mainland tour-
ists use as a way of dealing with its strangeness
and sense of cultural distance, or because they
fi rst experienced Western culture through theme
parks in their own country not having access to
outbound travel, or they are just there to shop and
enter that state as part of it. Once in a liminal state,
it is fascinating as a non-participating observer to
watch how and what the mainland tourist gaze
alights on in postcolonial Hong Kong!
Both tour groups and independent tourists
(under the IVS) were discreetly watched as to
where they went and what they did. Shopping
mall staff and guides were also interviewed.
Data was gathered by making notes, taking
digital images and videos of behaviour and
movement. This kind of data is not commonly
available through undertaking interviews, travel
diary recording or analysis of Internet text in
blogs or forums. The results, however, were
complemented by interviews with tourists,
guides, shopping mall information desk staff,
Hong Kong Tourism Board staff and shop assis-
tants. Analysis of available tour brochures and
tour operator websites was also made. A more
extensive survey of tourists in Hong Kong and
Macao is the subject of further study. Further
data are also being gathered for both cities using
travel blogs and chat room threads on specifi c
issues in English and Chinese.
Results: Trawling the Malls and Markets
in Hong Kong
Five of the key modern shopping malls and two
tourist precincts were targeted for site observa-
tion. The shopping malls comprised the newest
and most expensive, which were The Land-
mark, IFC (International Finance Centre) and
Pacifi c Place (Hong Kong Island), and Harbour
City and Festival Walk (Kowloon). There are a
number of smaller and less salubrious shopping
malls, but these are either likely to include more
Chinese wares or copies (very discreetly as they
are illegal in Hong Kong).
4
The two precincts,
Stanley Markets and Lan Kwai Fong (both of
which occur on Hong Kong Island), are both
promoted heavily to all kinds of tourists by the
Hong Kong Tourism Board. The results are pre-
sented in Table 14.1.
Methodology
The main way of gathering data at this stage was
through observing mainland tourists shopping
behaviour as a non-participant. This observation
was carried out over the month of March 2007
with interviews conducted several weeks after
Chinese New Year in order to observe and gather
data when shopping malls were less busy. Mid-
week was also a quieter time with most of the
local Chinese at work making the mainland tour-
ists more obvious by their shopping behaviour
and clothes worn.
3
Some tour groups, it was
observed were 'dropped off' by buses to wander
freely and then picked up later at another point.
3
Hong Kong Chinese colleagues devised a ten-point checklist of common mainland body language, grooming
and fashion trends so that if the tourist has two or three of the key ones and a number of the lesser ones marks
them as from the mainland. This list came in very useful as many Guangdong mainland tourists speak Cantonese
and not Mandarin, so discreet eavesdropping does not always work as a way of identifi cation of origin. As condi-
tions change on the mainland and these tourists become more experienced travellers, it will be harder to make
this distinction in the region.
4
Although copies and fakes are technically illegal on the Mainland too, there has been little interest at the
government level in cracking down on the industry as it could affect social stability and tourism. This is much
to the disgust of many Western manufacturers, whom are concerned about intellectual property violations
and subsequent loss of income.
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