Of Rapprochement Tourism Between China and Taiwan

Durham E-Theses `CROSSING BORDERS': CULTURAL-GEO-POLITICS OF RAPPROCHEMENT TOURISM BETWEEN CHINA AND TAIWAN ZHANG, JIAJIE How to cite: ZHANG, JIAJIE (2013) `CROSSING BORDERS': CULTURAL-GEO-POLITICS OF RAPPROCHEMENT TOURISM BETWEEN CHINA AND TAIWAN , Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/7368/ Use policy This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives 3.0 (CC BY-NC-ND) Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 ‘CROSSING BORDERS’: CULTURAL‐GEO‐POLITICS OF RAPPROCHEMENT TOURISM BETWEEN CHINA AND TAIWAN JIAJIE ZHANG THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Geography University of Durham 2013 ABSTRACT This thesis is concerned with the cultural‐geo‐politics of rapprochement tourism between China and Taiwan in the era of warming cross‐strait relations. By moving away from state‐centric approaches to the study of cross‐strait tourism, it interrogates themes surrounding the concepts of ‘border’, ‘identity’ and ‘materiality’, in an attempt to offer a more nuanced understanding of the everyday micro‐politics at play. More specifically, the thesis considers different taming strategies engaged by the authorities on both sides in dealing with sensitive histories and difficult heritages, and how their practices are materialised in the tourism landscape. In doing so, this study probes the often assumed processes of rapprochement that result from and animate the cross‐border exchanges by providing powerful examples of how tourists respond to attempts to manipulate their opinions, how they interpret ideologically loaded materials on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, but also of the genuine curiosity and good will that can result. This showcases the everyday experiences of tourists and the various bordering practices they enact and encounter during their travel. Discussions on tourists’ subjectivities show that far from being passive ‘numbers’ or ‘flows’ as often assumed by economic‐centric studies, cross‐strait tourists are actively shaping the rapprochement landscape. Furthermore, inquiries into the material cultures of memory and identity provide novel insights that go well beyond the state‐led ‘peace through tourism’ initiatives to look at how commercial culture is shaping and responding to memories and cross‐strait movements. Empirical findings are able to unpack how the border is experienced through a range of artefacts – from border controls to travel documents and cross‐border purchases that extend i beyond the literal border. Additionally, this research also broadens the sensorium by looking beyond ‘sight’ seeing to incorporate the olfactory, tactile, auditory and gustatory senses in discussing knives made from artillery shells, music events in a defunct military tunnel, and foods offered by local entrepreneurs. Finally, in acknowledging that tourists are not the only subjects of tourism, the thesis examines the roles played by ghosts and deities in their participation of cross‐strait rapprochement tourism. In doing this, it demonstrates that rapprochement tourism is more about ‘interactions along the side’ rather than state‐level diplomatic exchanges. Forays into consumption practices, identity construction (both national and self), and border (un)making could prove to be significant in the advent of unprecedented tourist exchanges between China and Taiwan. Keywords: rapprochement tourism, cultural‐geo‐politics, difficult heritage, border, identity, materiality, bordering practices, sensuous materialism, China, Taiwan ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract i Table of Contents iii List of Figures vii Romanisation of Chinese Words ix Declaration x Statement of Copyright xi Acknowledgements xii CHAPTER ONE 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Prologue 1 1.2 Key Research Objectives 5 1.3 Setting the Stage: Rapprochement Tourism in Context 10 1.4 Thesis Organisation and Synopsis 14 CHAPTER TWO 22 TOWARDS A ‘CULTURAL‐GEO‐POLITICS’ OF RAPPROCHEMENT TOURISM 2.1 Rapprochement Tourism: A Literature Review 22 2.1.1 Tourism across borders of conflict 24 2.1.2 Taming heritage: an ideological framing of the past? 31 2.1.3 Academic literature on China‐Taiwan tourism 33 2.1.4 Critical geopolitics of tourism across borders of conflict 38 2.2 A Cultural‐geo‐politics Approach 42 2.2.1 Re‐conceptualising the ‘Border’ 46 2.2.2 Identity, Difference and Liminality 50 2.2.3 Material Culture and (Im)materiality 55 2.3 Towards a ‘Cultural‐geo‐politics’ of Rapprochement Tourism 59 iii CHAPTER THREE 61 RESEARCHING THE FIELD: METHODOLOGICAL QUESTIONS 3.1 Fieldwork as a Social Process 61 3.1.1 Semi‐structured in‐depth interviews & informal conversations 62 3.1.2 Participation observation 65 3.1.3 Secondary data 67 3.2 Fieldwork Impediments & Limitations 68 3.3 Reflexive Methodology 73 3.4 Summary 79 CHAPTER FOUR 81 TAMING & CONSUMING SENSITIVE HISTORIES & DIFFICULT HERITAGES 4.1 Introduction 81 4.2 Post‐conflict Heritage Management 83 4.3 Exploring China’s Rapprochement Strategies 86 4.3.1 Reducing historical differences to the realm of the same 86 4.3.2 Between memory and money: cashing in on Chiang Kai‐shek 95 4.4 Taiwan’s Practices of Rapprochement 107 4.4.1 Heritage in the making: the National Palace Museum 107 4.4.2 Re‐casting Chiang Kai‐shek: Cartoonisation of sensitive historical figures 116 4.5 Digesting the Past, Consuming a More Palatable Future 123 CHAPTER FIVE 127 BORDERS ON THE MOVE: CROSS‐STRAIT TOURISTS’ MATERIAL MOMENTS ON ‘THE OTHER SIDE’ 5.1 Introduction: Re‐visiting the ‘Border’ 127 5.2 Setting the Stage, Materialising the Border 131 5.3 Crossing the Border: Checkpoints, Travel Documents and the Performance of Identity 134 5.3.1 The Taiwan Compatriot Permit 135 iv 5.3.2 The Chinese checkpoint as threshold 140 5.4 Political Border as Personal Boundary: Cross‐strait Tourists’ Experiences 142 5.4.1 The Taiwan Travel Permit as a site of bordering 145 5.4.2 Taiwanese identification cards and playful identities 148 5.5 Street Economies: Buying and Selling at a Ferry Terminal 153 5.6 From Borderless World to Borders on the Move 159 CHAPTER SIX 162 THE ENCHANTED WORLD OF RAPPROCHEMENT TOURISM 6.1 Introduction: The Enchanted World 162 6.2 Spirits Matter in Contemporary China and Taiwan 164 6.3 Encountering the ‘Untamed’ 168 6.3.1 The Wang Yulan cult 168 6.3.2 Return of the dead soldiers 173 6.4 Paying Homage to the ‘Heavenly Mother’ – Mazu Pilgrimage Tours 179 6.4.1 From seafarers’ guardian to Cross‐strait Goddess of Peace 181 6.4.2 When movement takes on meanings 185 6.4.3 Pilgrimage as a social(ising) activity 192 6.5 From State‐level Diplomatic Exchanges to ‘Interactions along the Side’ 203 CHAPTER SEVEN 208 RE‐VISITING BATTLEFIELD MEMORIES, EXPLORING THE SENSES: POST‐WAR MATERIAL CULTURE OF KINMEN IN THE MIDST OF RAPPROCHEMENT TOURISM 7.1 Introduction: Re‐visiting Kinmen 208 7.2 Material Culture and Materiality: Some Philosophical Underpinnings 211 7.3 Material Memories: Trench Art and Commemorative Materialities of Post‐war Landscapes 214 7.4 Memories and Materiel: From Artillery Shells to Household Knives 218 7.5 Infrastructure Becomes Memorial: The Kinmen Tunnel Music Festival 227 7.6 Food for Thought: Ingesting Memory 235 7.7 ‘Making Sense’ of Rapprochement Tourism 242 v CHAPTER EIGHT 247 CONCLUSION 8.1 Rapprochement Tourism between China & Taiwan: A Summary 247 8.2 Potentials for Future Research 254 8.3 Concluding Remarks: Re‐visiting ‘Peace through Tourism’ 257 APPENDICES 261 A: Complete List of Interviewees (Chinese Tourists) 261 B: Complete List of Interviewees (Taiwanese Tourists) 264 C: Complete List of Interviewees (Government Officials) 266 D: Complete List of Interviewees (Creative Industry) 267 E: AIDE‐MEMOIRE for Interviews 268 BIBLIOGRAPHY 275 vi LIST OF FIGURES CHAPTER ONE Figure 1.1 Map showing China and Taiwan, and location of places mentioned in the thesis 11 CHAPTER FOUR Figure 4.1 Façade of the China Museum for Fujian‐Taiwan Kinship 87 Figure 4.2 Cai Guoqiang’s ‘Gunpowder Painting’ 89 Figure 4.3 Museum’s floor plan 90 Figure 4.4 ‘Living quarters’ of Chiang Kai‐shek and Song Mei‐ling 99 Figure 4.5 Main thoroughfare of Xikou Village 102 Figure 4.6 One of many shops selling ‘Chiang Clan Thousand‐Layered Biscuit’; Thousand‐Layered Biscuits in different flavours 103 Figure 4.7 Photo‐taking with Chiang Kai‐shek impersonation 105 Figure 4.8 Examples of museum souvenirs 109 Figure 4.9 ‘Please Keep Quiet’ sign 116 Figure 4.10 Bronze statues and busts of Chiang Kai‐shek at the Ci‐hu Memorial Sculpture Park 118 Figure 4.11 Chiang Kai‐shek statues in different costumes 120 Figure 4.12 ‘Cartoonised’ political figures & range of souvenirs at the Mausoleum 121 CHAPTER FIVE Figure 5.1 The Taiwan Passport and the Taiwan Compatriot Permit 136 Figure 5.2 The permit for mainland China residents travelling to Taiwan and the Taiwan Travel Permit 147 Figure 5.3 A Taiwanese tour guide license 151 Figure 5.4 Taiwanese tourists at the waiting lounge of the Dong Du Ferry Terminal 154 Figure 5.5 Examples of duty‐free items 155 vii CHAPTER SIX Figure 6.1 Façade of the Chaste Maiden Temple and the deified Wang Yulan 169 Figure 6.2 The old and new introductory tablets to the Chaste Maiden Temple 172 Figure 6.3 An idol of Colonel Lee Kuang‐Chien 174 Figure 6.4 Fetching the souls of dead Communist soldiers back to Xiamen, China 176 Figure 6.5 Mazu idols from different temples being assembled with the main idol in the Meizhou ancestral

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