TRANSNATIONAL LEISURE and TRAVEL EXPERIENCE of SECOND-GENERATION CHINESE-AMERICANS Wei-Jue Huang Clemson University, [email protected]
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Clemson University TigerPrints All Dissertations Dissertations 5-2012 TRANSNATIONAL LEISURE AND TRAVEL EXPERIENCE OF SECOND-GENERATION CHINESE-AMERICANS Wei-jue Huang Clemson University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations Part of the Recreation, Parks and Tourism Administration Commons Recommended Citation Huang, Wei-jue, "TRANSNATIONAL LEISURE AND TRAVEL EXPERIENCE OF SECOND-GENERATION CHINESE- AMERICANS" (2012). All Dissertations. 938. https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/938 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Dissertations at TigerPrints. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TigerPrints. For more information, please contact [email protected]. TRANSNATIONAL LEISURE AND TRAVEL EXPERIENCE OF SECOND-GENERATION CHINESE-AMERICANS A Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School of Clemson University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management by Wei-Jue Huang May 2012 Accepted by: Dr. William C. Norman, Committee Chair Dr. Kenneth F. Backman Dr. William J. Haller Dr. Gregory P. Ramshaw A i ABSTRACT In the past, international migration often required immigrants to uproot themselves completely from their old society in order to build a new home, start a new life, and pledge allegiance to a new country. However, new transportation and communication technologies allow contemporary immigrants to live in two worlds and maintain virtual and physical contact with their homeland through leisure and tourism. The purpose of this study is to understand the lived experience of second-generation immigrants as they engage in transnational leisure activities and trips to their homeland, as well as explore the relationship between second-generation immigrants’ transnational homeland attachment and diaspora tourism experience. Using a phenomenological approach, twenty-six second-generation Chinese- Americans who had the experience of traveling in China were interviewed. Two themes emerged from their transnational leisure experiences, which described their approaches to Chinese culture through leisure and their transformation from the childhood “ways of being” to the more mature “ways of belonging.” Five themes emerged from their diaspora tourism experience. The first two themes focused on the positives and negatives, and how they handled the negative aspects encountered during the trips. The next two themes described what they were searching for in China and how they learned to appreciate their bi-cultural identity. The last theme examined the notions of “home” and “homeland” and the different ways they connected to China by relating it to their home, hometown, and family. Findings revealed how being a second-generation immigrant influenced the way they saw and experienced China through transnational leisure and diaspora tourism. ii DEDICATION To my parents, for their love and support, for being my role models, for letting me pursue my dreams, for giving me everything I need to succeed, and for believing I can accomplish anything I set my mind to. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I have many people to thank for the completion of this dissertation. First, I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. William Norman, for everything he has taught me and done for me in my four years here at Clemson University. Working with Dr. Norman, I learned how to be a better teacher and researcher. When it was time to start working on my dissertation, he encouraged me to pursue my interests, guided me through the entire process, helped me work through all the problems I encountered, and inspired me to think more and beyond. I would also like to express my gratitude to my committee: Dr. Gregory Ramshaw, Dr. William Haller, and Dr. Kenneth Backman. They have been very patient and gave me a lot of suggestions as I struggled with changing methodologies and modifying my research design. Their comments and edits not only helped me improve my ideas, logic, and writing, but also opened my eyes to the possibilities of future research. I have learned so much from them, as every meeting and discussion showed me how little I knew and how fortunate I was to have such a great committee. I also want to express my appreciation to all the faculty and staff in the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management. Specifically, I want to thank Dr. William Hammitt, who helped me in the study of place attachment and develop the initial stage of my research proposal. I am also very grateful to our PRTM Media Resource Specialist, Karin Emmons, who helped me solve all the technical issues I have encountered during the various stages of my research. Without their support, this project would not have been possible. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TITLE PAGE ..................................................................................................................... i ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... ii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 1 Background ........................................................................................................... 3 Rationale ............................................................................................................... 8 Transnational Leisure and Tourism .................................................................... 11 Problem Statement .............................................................................................. 14 Scope ................................................................................................................... 15 Purpose and Research Questions ........................................................................ 19 Significance of the Study .................................................................................... 22 Glossary of Terms ............................................................................................... 24 Dissertation Outline ............................................................................................ 26 II. LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................... 28 Transnationalism ................................................................................................. 30 Globalization and Transnational Leisure ............................................................ 39 Diaspora .............................................................................................................. 44 Migration and Tourism ....................................................................................... 48 Diaspora Tourism................................................................................................ 52 Place Attachment ................................................................................................ 61 Home/Homeland Attachment ............................................................................. 69 III. METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................... 74 Hermeneutic Phenomenology ............................................................................. 74 Sampling ............................................................................................................. 79 Data Collection ................................................................................................... 81 Data Analysis ...................................................................................................... 82 Validation and Reliability ................................................................................... 84 v Table of Contents (Continued) Page IV. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ............................................................................. 88 Transnational Leisure.......................................................................................... 92 Diaspora Tourism.............................................................................................. 111 Summary ........................................................................................................... 144 V. CONCLUSIONS ...................................................................................................... 148 Research Objectives and Major Findings ......................................................... 148 Theoretical Contributions ................................................................................. 153 Practical Implications........................................................................................ 158 Limitations ........................................................................................................ 160 Future Research ................................................................................................ 162 APPENDICES A. E-mail Recruitment Letter ..........................................................................