Chinese Travelling Overseas and Their Anxieties

The changing economic, social and political circumstances of China in the last decades, together with the uneven rolling out of social engineering programmes in the country, such as the promotion of selected Chinese traditions, urbanization, standardized education and exposure to plethora of popular cultures, have created a diverse group of Chinese who behave in similar and yet different ways, even when they travel. To make sense of the centripetal and centrifugal forces that shape Chinese tourists, this chapter will look at culture as a social institution that serves important functions and also an arena of conflict and negotiation. Essentially, this study analyses Chinese tourist behaviour in the context of the social forces they face at home and when they travel and found that tourism anxiety has been much neglected in literature. Fieldwork was conducted in Tasmania, Australia, and data was collected through interviews and participant observations. It revealed that the lack of planning and local knowledge, inadequate pretravel research, limited travel time, expectations for value of money, cultural clashes, quest for authenticity, language barriers and choices of dining are triggers of anxiety during travel. Consequently, anxiety influences Chinese tourists’ behaviour. Not only do these factors constrain positive outbound travel experiences, they also shape tourist travel behaviour and experiences. Mediators play a significant role in affecting some of the anxieties.