My Independent Study Project - Completed!

Okay, actually posting my research project on here has been a bit complicated...so I'll probably just email it to anyone who wants to see.

I can easily post the personal reflections section we're supposed to include in our appendix though:

Part 3. Personal Reflection

One of my biggest challenges in Lijiang was the expectation held by many people that a foreigner could not be in Lijiang for any reason other than tourism, despite my insistence that I was a student from Minzu Daxue in Kunming studying tourism (luyouye), women’s issues (funu wenti) and Naxi culture (naxi wenhua). At first, I tried to avoid the situations in which I could be categorized as a tourist, which meant not buying things, turning down tour offers, and not taking photographs. However, eventually I realized that my participation in many of those activities would be very instructive and useful in their own ways, despite how it might establish ‘touristy’ relationships with people. Essentially, I mean that many of the relationships people create in the mass tourism, between guide and tourist, shop owner and tourist, etc., tend to be very shallow and people tend to be less forthcoming about their personal lives and views, instead relying on the popular discourse of tourism that could just as easily be found in a pamphlet.

I found three ways to circumvent this challenge: the length of time I spent in Lijiang, establishing friendships with people my age, and interviewing people who were involved in forms of “responsible tourism”. The first method simply plays off the fact that many tourists do not stay in Lijiang for very long, and so, once people saw that I was staying for a considerably longer length of time–three weeks–I found some of them more receptive and was able to establish more meaningful relationships (like the people running my first hostel, two students working as waitresses at a restaurant in Dayanzhen, the people running N’s kitchen, etc.). Actually, I think staying in one place for so long (even though three weeks ultimately is not really that long) was one of the most useful aspects of my research, because it gave me the opportunity to really get to know Dayanzhen and some of the people living/working there. Being continuously present there (aka, staying at a hostel in Dayanzhen) was also very useful, because I was constantly in a position to observe things that might prove valuable to my project.

I also found people my own age were easy to befriend in Lijiang and were themselves valuable sources of information and suggestions. One of the most significant aspects of my research, however, was talking to people involved in “responsible tourism” because, unlike mass tourism, “responsible tourism” already makes the assumption that people will want to talk on a less superficial level, to actually learn about local culture and issues. The guides I met were not only very open about local culture, but their own lives, experiences, and perspectives. They were also more likely than the mass tourism guides to speak fluent English, which, as my Mandarin is less than adequate, was a stroke of luck. Moreover, many people in Lijiang speak very heavily accented Mandarin or, even worse, no Mandarin at all, only Naxi (particularly the elderly and women in rural areas). However, I do wish I could have created more opportunities to talk with the elderly Naxi women that sell fruits and vegetables around Dayanzhen and dance in the squares in the mornings and evenings. Their experiences and perspectives would have been very interesting to hear. Unfortunately, with my lacking Mandarin and their heavy accents, my communication with them was very limited.

Interviews and participant observations were my main methods of information gathering in Lijiang, but I did try out a survey near the end of my stay. Unfortunately, I was confronted with many problems when trying to implement this survey. For instance, many people refused to take it and I started to notice a pattern in the people who tended to refuse to take the survey; they were mainly women. Annoyed with already apparent bias, I continued. At one point, a woman refused to take it, saying that she was Naxi and could not read or write using Chinese characters. Upset with this development, I took a break to look over the surveys that had been filled at (about 10 surveys, after about two hours of work). Some answers had been left blank, and I am certain that nobody understood my final question. So, I gave up the survey, which had been more of an experiment in methodology than anything else; I tend to prefer the more personal approaches of interviews and participant observation.

Overall, this independent project was a wonderful learning experience. I had taken a research methods class back at my school in the US, but the fieldwork I did there was limited to a few hours on Saturday mornings. This complete immersion in the field was an altogether different experience that was very instructive, particularly in consideration of the senior seminar project I will have to do next year.

Back in Kunming

I've been back in Kunming for three days now, working on my paper. I'm basically finished, got maybe a little more editing and then I'll be done (a couple days early too). It's good to be back in Kunming, to see some of the others (not everyone is back yet though) and because Kunming is a bit warmer than Lijiang was (also food is so much cheaper here, at the cafeteria). Of course, we go to Beijing soon and apparently its going to be freezing there.

I'm really happy with how my project turned out and the semester overall. I'll post my paper when I'm done, although it's a bit long (about thirty pages, without counting the appendix and the citations). Kunming has been a lot more relaxing than Lijiang, and I'm happy to take it easy now (although I should probably also study for a Chinese exam I have in about a week, and I also need to prepare for my presentation in a few days).

Here are some photos from Lijiang: