Virtual ethnography of “China travel” content

An empirical study across short video platforms

Bibliographic Data

ID19174359
AuthorsMinglin Wang (0000-0002-0778-2186, Monash University, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume12
Issue3
Pages387-412
Publication date2025-02-11
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Communication of Chinese Culture (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2197-4233 • E-ISSN: 2197-4241
PublisherSpringer Science+Business Media (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1007/s40636-025-00317-2
OpenAlexW4407422212
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited66

With the advent of China’s 72/144-h visa-free policy, more and more “China Travel” social media content has appeared on two short video platforms, TikTok and Douyin. Social media platforms are an important medium for intercultural communication in today’s world, and this study aims to analyze the phenomenon of autonomous communication of Chinese content on TikTok and Douyin. Our main goal is to reveal the effects of this intercultural communication and understand how it influences audiences’ perceptions and attitudes toward China. The study adopts a virtual ethnography approach to analyze the performance of bloggers in intercultural communication, and their influence on audiences through participatory observation and in-depth interviews. We found that these bloggers have essentially constructed third cultural spaces, and by displaying positive elements of China, they have helped their audiences to form a more positive and diversified image of China. Moreover, they have achieved a strong cross-cultural communication effect. However, this kind of communication still has limitations, such as the distortion of China’s image due to an othering perspective, as based on Orientalism and the audience’s romantic gaze. This study explores the third cultural membership as a new avenue of international communication, and provides empirical support for the utilization of short video platforms in the field of public diplomacy

Advertising · Business · China · Content analysis · Empirical research · Ethnography · Geography · Multimedia · Social science · Sociology · Asian Culture and Media Studies · Computer Science · Digital Marketing and Social Media · Media, Gender, and Advertising

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