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The Monasteries of Putuoshan, China: Sites of Secularor Religious Tourism?Cora Un In Wong a , Chris Ryan b & Alison McIntosh ca Institute of Tourism Studies , Macaob Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management at the University of WaikatoManagement School , Private Bag 3105, Hamilton 3240, New Zealandc Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management at the University of WaikatoManagement School in Hamilton , New ZealandPublished online: 07 Aug 2013.

To cite this article: Cora Un In Wong , Chris Ryan & Alison McIntosh (2013) The Monasteries of Putuoshan, China: Sites ofSecular or Religious Tourism?, Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 30:6, 577-594, DOI: 10.1080/10548408.2013.810996

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Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 30:577–594, 2013Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLCISSN: 1054-8408 print / 1540-7306 onlineDOI: 10.1080/10548408.2013.810996

THE MONASTERIES OF PUTUOSHAN, CHINA: SITESOF SECULAR OR RELIGIOUS TOURISM?

Cora Un In WongChris Ryan

Alison McIntosh

ABSTRACT. The article reports an analysis derived from a sample of 640 respondents visiting theBuddhist site of Putuoshan that is sacred to the Bodhisattva of Compassion, Avalokitesvara. Drawingon literature and observation over a 12-month period, the article adopts a fourfold designation ofvisitors: Xiankes, Sushi, Sightseers, and Cultural/Heritage Visitors. Three scales are developed andexploratory factor analysis supports distinctions between the clusters with reference to motives, activ-ities and beliefs, and the categorization is supported by logistic regression analysis. The findings arediscussed in the context of destination management with reference to two considerations—namely: (a)sites of religious importance often possess secular as well as religious significance; and (b) the numbersof tourists appear to be growing, thereby raising concerns of future negative tourism impacts.

KEYWORDS. Religious tourism, China, Buddhism

INTRODUCTION

This article reports exploratory researchundertaken at Putuoshan, a Chinese site of reli-gious significance to those of the Buddhistfaith. The purpose of the research was to assessthe extent to which such tourism reflects areligious or secular motive, and the implica-tions for visitor behaviors. The question hasimportance in contemporary China as the Stateseeks to revert to cultural understandings asthe “glue” that holds the nation when for-merly important Maoist doctrines are beingsubmerged by goals of economic growth and

Cora Un In Wong is a Lecturer at the Institute of Tourism Studies, Macao. (E-mail: cora@ift.edu.mo).Chris Ryan is Professor in the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management at the University

of Waikato Management School, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand (E-mail: caryan@waikato.ac.nz).

Alison McIntosh is Professor in the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management at the Universityof Waikato Management School in Hamilton, New Zealand (E-mail: mcintosh@waikato.ac.nz).

Address correspondence to: Chris Ryan at the above address.

social reform (Hall, 2006; Chi, Fang, & Kuang,2010a). There is also the paradox of the emer-gence of a belief and worship of Mao as a“God of Wealth” consistent with the usage ofritual within the classical Chinese belief sys-tems (Oakes & Sutton, 2010). China is there-fore a mix of State-patronized Buddhist-relatedtourism on the one hand, and condemnationon the other (e.g., charismatic and apocalypticBuddhism as noted by Waldron, 1998). Giventhis, studies of a site such as Putuoshan haveinterest for tourism planners wanting to under-stand the nature of religious site tourism inChina.

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The structure of this article commences witha description of the site to indicate why it isthought important. Second, a literature reviewcovers two broad themes—those of the role ofreligion in contemporary China as a componentof State policy, and the endorsement thereforegiven to tourism at Buddhist sacred sites. Thisreview is contextualized within the wider remitof pilgrimage and religious tourism. After indi-cating the structure of the questionnaire, resultsare provided commencing with an exploratoryfactor analysis as a test of reliability. Regressionanalysis is then used to determine the extent towhich trips to Putuoshan are religious or secularin purposes, and four types of tourists are iden-tified. The sightseeing behaviors of these typesare briefly described and the article ends with adiscussion of the implications of the findings.

PUTUOSHAN

Putuoshan is one of the foremost Buddhistsites in China for the reasons indicated below.The site is an island with daily services byferry from Ningbo and Shanghai, while a com-bined bus and ferry link to Hangzhou also exists.The trip from Ningbo by bus and ferry takesapproximately 2 hours and hence the island iseasily accessible from some of the more popu-lous areas of China. One of the holy mountainsof Buddhism in China, Pu-Tuo is dedicated tothe Bodhisattva of Compassion, Avalokitesvara.Pu-Tuo means “beautiful white flower,” andapart from the flora the island is also full ofcaves, grottoes, and overhanging cliffs that havemeaning in Buddhism. There are three majortemples: Puji, Fayu, and Huiji. Puji, the old-est, was initially built in 1080, but the islandis scattered with many more monasteries andconvents. Chinese history records a number ofvisions of the Bodhisattva, who, though initiallymale, became transformed into a female form,and in this form reputedly appeared in 668 AD,and again in 939 AD, and at varying stages untilthe present period. Consequently, the islandhas remained for centuries as a place of wor-ship and study of the Buddhist faith, and whilesome damage was caused during the CulturalRevolution much remains for the visitor to see.

Finally, it should be stated that the islandis very popular as a tourist destination, andis classified as “AAAAA National TourismDestination” by the China National TourismAdministration (the highest classification). Thecurrent population comprises of approximately5,000 lay people and 3,000 belonging tothe monastic orders. The numbers visitingPutuoshan in 2006 were 4.65 million, and in2010 approximately the same number; this fig-ure representing a recovery from smaller num-bers of tourists between 2006 and 2010 dueto competing events like the Beijing Olympics,various other major events, and to a lesserextent the global recession (Putuoshan TouristInformation Office, 2012).

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Religious Tourism

In the Western academic literature, the rela-tionship between tourism and religion is under-standably dominated by the role of pilgrim-age, particularly to places of importance tothe Catholic faith such as Lourdes, Fatima,and Rome. Certainly, as evidenced by Irishexamples at Knock or at Camino de Santiagode Compestela, the public sector has becomeinvolved in the planning of religious tourismthrough the direct provision of infrastructure orthe support of the private sector through plan-ning controls (Shackley, 2001, 2006; Santos,2002). With a history that extends for severalhundreds of years, pilgrimage still remains amajor motivation for travel as evidenced by theIslamic Harj (Olsen & Timothy, 2006). Withinthe academic tourism literature, a prevailingtheme has been an analysis of the motivationsfor such travel, for it has long been recog-nized that the motives involve secular curiosityas much as worship (Vukonic, 1996). Visitorsmay come to a sacred site to worship, for aninterest in such places as contributors to cul-ture and heritage, or simply out of idle curiosityto see places of interest with friends and fam-ily (Digance, 2006). Other motives may includea wish to enjoy natural and cultural landscapesgiven that many such sites are in locations ofnatural beauty or heritage importance (Shackley,

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2001; Sutton & Kang, 2010). Additionally,some might wish to muse about the relation-ship between the divine and the human on abasis other than that of the original religiousfaith associated with the place (Yeh, Ryan, &Liu, 2009; Rioux, 2010).

The academic literature also considerswhether the nature of pilgrimage has remaineda constant. Thus, Blackwell (2007) arguedthat prior to the 19th century, pilgrimage wasexpected to be an adventurous undertakinginvolving hardship. Indeed, such an arduousjourney was a key to the attainment of innerspiritual satisfaction. Today, it has been notedthat pilgrimage is a journey of the strengtheningof ties with others of like mind, a reinforcing ofbeliefs and relationships, earthly as well as withthe divine (Pavicic, Alfirevic, & Batarelo, 2007).This view is consistent with Durkheim’s (1912)claims in The Elementary Forms of ReligiousLife when he argued religious rituals are socialcelebrations that reinforce senses of socialsolidarity. Other commentators have drawnattention to the parallels of behavior betweenthe pilgrim and the tourist, with Shinde (2007)noting that there is as much time spent in sou-venir purchasing, eating, and drinking as spentin attending services. Indeed, there may be moretime spent on secular than religious activities.There thus exists a plethora of studies commenc-ing from Van Gennep (1909), who anticipatesTurner’s (1973) later work on communitas byobserving that rituals separate participants fromthe ordinary, thereby passing over the thresholdor limen to the state of marginality. For theirpart, Moore and Myerhoff (1977) argue inSecular Ritual that ritual is not confined tothe religious, while MacCannell (1976) andGraburn (1983) argue that tourism itself has thecharacteristics of a ritual about the quality oflife. Linkages between tourism and pilgrimagethus abound. From a management perspective,Olsen and Timothy (2006) observe that “. . . pil-grims and tourists are structurally and spatiallythe same or forms of one another. . .” (p. 6).

The Role of Religion in China

Given that observation of behavior is not initself a means of discerning motives for that

behavior (Ryan, 2002), studies have sought tosegment visitors to places of pilgrimage basedon benefits and psychographics (e.g., Koldowski& Martin, 2008). For his part, Turner (1973)observed the importance of two major types ofmotivations in Chinese Buddhism pilgrimage:

. . . hsu yuan and huan yuan. Hsu yuan isthe making of a wish before the God withthe vow that, if the wish should come true,one would come again to thank, worshipand offer sacrifices. Huan yuan is worshipand sacrifice to the God as an expressionof gratitude after the wish had come true.(pp. 197–198)

Yeh et al. (2008) note this practice and distinc-tion in the tradition of Mazu tourism in Taiwanand the eastern seaboard of China. They drawdistinctions between a folkloric adherence totraditional practices of lighting incense sticksand praying or giving thanks to the divine forgood fortune on the one hand, and the searchfor deeper spiritual meanings and enlightenmenton the other. These themes are well illustratedin the Chinese mainland setting by the laterwork of Oakes and Sutton (2010). For his part,Foard (1982) utilizes Turner’s concept of com-munitas as an essential part of the JapaneseTokugawa Buddhist pilgrimage, wherein a gen-eralized social bond is formed, of being takenaway from or as a “withdrawal or separationfrom the ordinary world and society” into thecommunity of pilgrims (Foard, 1982, p. 239).

Within the Chinese context, the distinctionbetween cultural practice and a deeper searchfor meaning has a political as well as religioussignificance. It was noted above that the tem-ples of Putuoshan suffered damage during theCultural Revolution—a revolution engineeredby the Maoist state to confirm its own authorityand which was directed against many tradi-tional practices and attitudes of the then existingChinese society (Gao, 1994; Li, 2001). At thecommencement of the second decade of the 21stcentury, the political wheel has continued toturn. In 2009 Shi Jiangtao wrote:

The party has tightened its control in thepast decade, with an unprecedented media

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censorship and a massive crackdown ondissent. More people have turned to tra-ditional values and beliefs for spiritualguidance, and public calls for the restora-tion of traditional culture, festivals andeven characters have gained momentum inrecent years. Confucian temples are backin vogue on college campuses and at pri-mary schools. Several traditional festivalswere reinstated last year. . ..” (p. A12)

He further writes that the contemporary ironyis that today it is communist thought that isbeing relocated to the museum, and Confucianand Buddhist traditions that are again resur-rected in the service of the State as in pastdynasties (Jiangtao, 2009). Hence, the reinforce-ment of traditional Confucian traditions is sup-ported by the State as recognizing hierarchicalsocial systems and providing an ideology sup-portive of the “harmonious society” and changewith Chinese characteristics. This is importantin holding together the differing socioeconomicstrands of Chinese society (Chi, Fang, & Kuang,2010b). Certainly, the manifestation of religiousbeliefs continues to be carefully controlled bythe Chinese State through various State Bureaus,although today it is more tolerant and indeedwill even promote religious festivals for a com-bination of economic, cultural, political, as wellas religious reasons (Ryan & Gu, 2010). Indeed,Waldron (1998) commented that:

. . . no Chinese leader can rule withoutsome sort of broadly recognized moralor ideological sanction. By the sametoken, the notion of religion as a separateestate—the realm of individuals and pri-vate organizations—will seem strange oreven subversive to many Chinese, espe-cially to government officials. (p. 325)

Nonetheless, there remain tensions as evi-denced by the relationship between Beijing andthe Papal State, and it is possible to concludethat the Chinese Communist Party prefers tosupport the Buddhist, Daoist, and Confucianbelief systems that are more closely linked toHan culture than religions such as Islam and

Christianity that are perceived as being exter-nal in origin. With reference to Buddhist sites,the Chinese State exercises control through theState Administration for Religious Affairs, andgenerally is supportive of the religion althoughit requires all temples, monasteries, and con-vents to be licensed (Potter, 2003; Ashiwa &Dank, 2007). Again the State’s sensitivities toperceived threats to the “harmonious society”become evident as, for example, when in August2007 the State Administration promulgated alaw that forbade Tibetan Buddhist monks fromreincarnating without government permission.While this may seem initially bizarre, it repre-sents State sensitivities about the succession tothe Dalai Lama.

Religion and Tourism in China

The first point to note is that sightseeing atreligious sites in China is a fast growing activitywithin China’s domestic tourism (Zhang et al.,2007). Tourism to Buddhist sites thereforetends to be controlled by the State, albeitwith a generally light touch given its wish toreinforce notions of patriotism through evo-cation of Chinese culture and heritage (Zhanget al., 2007; Ryan & Gu, 2010). Additionally,given the rural locations of many Buddhistsites, tourism to religious sites is promotedfor economic and social reasons as part of apolicy to reduce differentials between rural andurban incomes, thereby reducing a need formigration to the cities (Feng & Zhou, 2004).Therefore, it is suggested that tourism to aBuddhist site in China may be characterized bysecularization for a number of reasons. First,the Maoist period represents a hiatus in Chinesecultural tradition wherein a present generationof Chinese no longer have traditional ties topast religious beliefs. Second, it is possible thatincreased wealth and associated consumerismmay also weaken religious links, althoughKeister (2003) argues that, in China, religionis actually the key determinant of the familystructure. Third, tourism to the island is partlypromoted in terms of sightseeing rather thanreligious tourism per se (Yang, Lu, Zhang, Lu,& Xuan, 2004). Fourth, religious sites are them-selves multiple product tourism destinations

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that include heritage tourism and opportunitiesfor socialization and friendship and familybonding (Yeh et al., 2009, Oakes & Sutton,2010). Nonetheless, one cannot under-estimatethe resurgence of Chinese religious beliefs andWaldron (1998) notes not only the growth inBuddhist observance, but also the resurgenceof “charismatic and apocalyptic Buddhism”(p. 331), while Yu (2010) notes the religiousobservance of Mao Zedong as a heavenly spirit.He comments: “Even Mao Zedong himself, anatheist, is mystified into a deity, and worshippedas a secular god. The continuing cult of Maois popular in his birthplace of Shaoshan, andthroughout China” (Yu, 2010, p. 95).

Accepting therefore the interests of the Statein promoting Buddhist sites, what motivatesvisitors to Putuoshan? Overmyer (2003) notesthat possibly the template for Buddhist andDaoist pilgrimage lies in Taiwan. In the caseof Taiwanese Mazu tourism, Yeh et al. (2009)used exploratory factor analysis to discern threesets of motives that were listed as social explo-ration, experiencing religion, and experiencingbelief. The first factor alluded to social motivesof being somewhere interesting with family andfriends and meeting needs of curiousity; the sec-ond related to a combination of experiencing theambience of expressions of religious belief andseeking escape from the daily world; and thelast factor comprised items relating to achiev-ing senses of redemption, being close to God,and achieving fulfilment. Such motives are nottoo dissimilar to studies derived from a Westerncontext such as those of Nolan and Nolan (1992)and Collins-Kreiner and Kliot (2000), whosefindings indicated shaded nuances of motivesthat cause doubt about a simple dichotomybetween tourist and pilgrim, although the latterstudy reinforced the role of devotion on the partof the devout. Some commentators have addi-tionally argued that tourism per se is a form ofsecular pilgrimage, while Tomasi (2002) arguesthat so numerous are today’s pilgrims that theyhave to be organized as tourists.

Consequently, it would appear that motivesfor visiting a Buddhist site of significance mayhave four major components. The first is the reli-gious; the second a wish to confirm senses ofidentity as being Chinese through reinforcing

an acquaintanceship with Chinese culture andheritage; the third, the more secular tourismmotives of wanting to see something of interest,do something different, and being with friends;and the fourth an expression of solidarity withthe social and political structures of the ChineseState. As always, the boundaries between thesecategories are far from firm. Following the dis-tinctions made by Turner (1973), Yeh et al.(2009), and Wong (2011), the acts of traditionalreligious obeisance such as lighting incensesticks, placing food on the tables before thestatures of Buddha, and bowing three timeswhile praying may represent any one of threethings—namely: (a) true respect for the religion,(b) an adherence to traditional custom and form,and (c) a tourist without belief but wishing toexperience a form of religious tourism and theambience it entails.

METHODOLOGY

The total study lasted for over 12 months,albeit not continuously, and possessed threestages of data collection and observation bythe first author. The first two stages related toobservation; making contacts; having conver-sations; and becoming familiar with the islandand the monasteries, convents, and shrines. Thethird phase of the data collection related to thecollection of surveys completed by visitors ondeparture from the island to elicit data abouttheir motives and behaviors, and it is this thirdstage that forms the content of this article.

The questionnaire comprised three sections.The first related to the current visit to Pu-Tuo and sought data on (a) the importance ofgiven reasons for the visit, (b) importance ofgiven behaviors during the visit, and (c) self-assessment as to the level of belief in Buddhism.The second section had questions that related topast patterns of visitation; and finally, the thirdsection sought sociodemographic informationas to gender, age, occupation, levels or educa-tion, and place of residence. A pilot study wasinitially undertaken in December 2008 and arevised version of the questionnaire was againtrialed in May 2009 before the main periodof data collection commenced the following

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TABLE 1. Questionnaire Construction—Indicative Sources of Items

Item Indicative literature Testing

Role of Buddhism Turner (1973), Foard (1982), Vukonic(1996), San (2001), Swatos & Tomasi(2002), Raj & Morpeth (2007),Koldowski & Martin (2008), Yeh, Ryan,& Liu (2009)

Determinants of visitsImportance ReligiousReligious motivesLearning motives

Intellectual interest inculture/history

Hsu yuan/huan yuan SocialSightseeingRecreational

Cultural motives Nolan & Nolan (1992), Vukonic (1996),Collins-Kreiner & Kliot (2000), Potter(2003)

Degrees of cultural/heritage interestSecularization of the religious

Recreational/sightseeing Wu, Xu, & Ekiz (2009), Shackley (2001),Oakes & Sutton (2010)

Role as a motive

Self-assessment ofreligiosity

Foard (1982), Vukonic (1996), Raj &Morpeth (2007)

Links between motives and religiouspredisposition

Folkloric vs. deeper understandingof Buddhist faith

Behavioral components Shackley (2001), Raj & Morpeth (2007) Links between motives andbehaviorsMonasteries visited

Numbers of visits madeTrip duration, etc.

Scales tested in article Sources informing scale Comments on scale

Importance of reasons forvisiting Putuoshan

General tourism motivational literature asabove

Scale measured socialization,sightseeing, cultural, intellectual,relaxation, and Buddhist folkloricand belief motives on 10-pointscale

Importance of activitiesundertaken onPutuoshan

Based on observation, participation intours, and Buddhist practices

Scale measured activities on theisland including sightseeing,burning incense, tossing coins,reciting mantras, mediation,cuisine, shopping, and Buddhistpractices

Measures of belief inBuddhism

Based on Buddhist practices andbeliefs—see various Buddhist texts

Scale measured donations, burningincense, “every 3 steps, 1 kneel”practice, Bodhissattva ofCompassion devotion, compliancewith good visitor practices

summer. Table 1 outlines the sections inherentin the questionnaire and their sources and roles.It will be noted that three scales were gener-ated for the project, and each used a 10-pointscale where “10” represented the highest value.The Table comprises two parts, the first indicat-ing the literature informing scale construction,and the second placing the questionnaire withinthe context of other sources including priorobservation.

The data were collected in the departure hallof the Pu-Tuo ferry terminal to ensure that pas-sengers had completed their current visit to theisland. Convenience sampling was used and datacollection ceased in February 2010, the datahaving been collected at both peak and off-season periods and during periods of year thathad or did not possess significance for those ofthe Buddhist faith to permit comparative anal-ysis. The questionnaires were in Mandarin and

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Wong, Ryan, and McIntosh 583

were self-completed by respondents. The finalusable total sample numbered 640 respondents,of whom 38.9% (n = 302) were male and61.1% (n = 475) female. Within the sample,19 respondents over the age of 51 years wereexcluded because the number was thought tobe too small a number to permit meaningfulstatistical analysis when comparing age groups(for example, see the discussion by Cortina &Nouri, 2000, on size effects when conductingANOVA). The final sample represented 82.4%of people approached.

RESULTS

The Sample

The occupations of the final sample wereprimarily university students, employed or self-employed, housewives (all the home carers werefemale), and the occupational category “other.”Ryan and Gu (2009) and Wu, Xu, and Ekiz(2009) note that in studying domestic tourismin China, one is studying the beneficiaries of thenew China: namely, the affluent, well-educatedemergent middle classes who both want to traveland are able to afford the expenses entailed.The characteristics of the sample are shown inTable 2 and confirm this thesis. Of this sample,two-thirds were university educated and 61%were in current employment. This is consistentwith profiles derived of visitors to other simi-lar tourist destinations in China. For example, atQiyunshan—a Daoist site in Anhui—Ryan, Sai,Yurong, and Gu (2012) found that 60% of vis-itors were between 21 and 50 years of age and46% were graduates.

Of the sample, 20.5% (n = 131) had joineda sightseeing tour and 65 were on a pilgrimagetour, of whom 6 were on a tour organized bya Buddhist Association. The remainder (num-bering 444) had made their own travel arrange-ments. Of the total, only a small number (n =15) were on a day tour and the great major-ity stayed either over one (n = 171) or twonights (n = 313) with the greater majority ofthe remainder spending three nights and about3% of the sample staying longer. Of the accom-modation used, only 35 visitors stayed at amonastery and 531 stayed at a hotel or guest

TABLE 2. The Visitor Sample

Number Percentage

Gender Male 242 37.8Female 398 62.2

Age 18–30 years 314 49.131–40 years 224 35.041–50 years 102 15.9

Occupation Secondary student 16 2.5University student 112 17.5Employed 271 42.3Self-employed 121 18.9Retired 2 0.3Unemployed 26 4.1Home carer 39 6.1Other 71 8.3

Education None 3 0.5Primary 5 0.8Secondary/technical 205 32.0University or above 427 66.7

house. With reference to their adherence to theBuddhist faith, a number of questions were usedto examine this. One asked about the regular-ity of visits to a temple or monastery, and athreefold classification was developed whereby111 did not attend at any time, 398 less thansix times a year, and 131 stated they wentmore than six times a year. This implied that529 had varying degrees of belief in Buddhismand this was supported by a question whererespondents were asked to self-assess their vis-itor role. On this question, 56 stated they wereBuddhist pilgrims (Jushi, a devout believerhaving understanding)—which figure is con-sistent with the numbers on a specified pil-grimage tour—while a further 331 self-definedthemselves as a religious tourist/worshipper(Xianke). The remainder came for reasons ofsightseeing or a general interest in culture.Additionally respondents were asked to self-assess their understanding of Buddhism on a10-point scale (0 to 9) where 9 representedthe highest level, and on this scale 70% scoredthemselves as a 5.0 or less and only 8% (57) asan 8 or a 9. This represents a picture of visita-tion to a religious site being dominated by thenon- or less devout, something commented uponby many researchers at Christian religious sites(e.g., Shackley, 2001).

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Data Reliability

The conventional tests of data reliabilityrelate to scaled measures, and within the ques-tionnaire three scales were developed. Thesewere: (a) a scale that related to the importanceof reasons for visiting Pu-Tuo, (b) a scale onthe importance of actual activities that can beundertaken on the island, and (c) a “belief” scalewhere respondents were asked to score agree-ment about a number of practices associatedwith Buddhism. The first scale had a Cronbachalpha coefficient of .79, the second .85, andthe third .80. Split-half correlations were inexcess of .79. These data are important for theyimply that the time taken in collecting datadid not impact upon the results. Additionallythe Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin score of sampling ade-quacy exceeded .80 in all three cases.

The development of the scales depended notonly on the literature reviewed above and asindicated in Table 1, but also on observation.Given the nature of the context, the relativesilences in contemporary Chinese academic lit-erature on pilgrimage-based tourism, and issues

surrounding objectivity relating to the interpre-tation of what was observed, it is consideredthat the research is predominately exploratoryin nature. This permits the use of exploratorystatistical techniques defined by Hair, Anderson,Tatham, and Black (1998) as:

analysis that defines possible relation-ships in only the most general form andthen allows the multivariate technique toestimate relationship(s). . . . (it) lets themethod and the data define the nature ofthe relationships. An example is stepwisemultiple regression, in which the methodadds predictor variables until some crite-rion is met. (p. 580)

Each of the scales and their data will bedescribed in turn to assess their reliability.

Importance of Reasons for Visits

The data relating to reasons for the visitare shown in Table 3. The first three columns

TABLE 3. Visit Motivations Factor Analysis and Mean Scores

Factor

1 2 3 Mean SD

How important is it to come to Pu-Tuo to relax? .807 .043 −.101 5.99 3.11How important is it to see somewhere different? .804 .167 −.041 4.96 3.21How important is it to see something of Chinese cultural

tradition?.785 .353 −.025 6.03 3.21

How important is it to go sightseeing? .739 .075 −.134 6.56 2.94How important is it to visit cultural sites and historical

buildings?.586 .455 −.151 5.65 3.14

How important is it to spend time withfamily/friends/relatives?

.493 .266 .185 5.52 3.55

How important is it to eat seafood? .484 .260 −.015 2.58 2.48How important is it to seek Buddhism spiritual

enlightenment?.149 .815 .252 4.24 3.39

How important is it to attend Buddhism pujas in themonasteries?

.254 .806 .263 2.93 2.84

How important is it to learn more about Buddhism frommonks and nuns?

.294 .803 .153 2.56 2.45

How important is Pu-Tuo as a sacred land for my faith? .109 .759 .408 4.93 3.51How important is it to huan yuan? −.018 .315 .879 7.36 3.12How important is it to hsu yuan? −.002 .269 .871 6.07 3.81Percentage of variance “explained” 30.5 19.9 8.9Eigenvalue 3.96 2.58 1.16Alpha coefficient .80 .82 .75

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indicate the results of an exploratory factor anal-ysis using an oblimin rotation and the fourthshows the sample mean score. The reasonsfor the use of oblimin rotation are as follows.Tabachnick and Fidell (2007) argue that:

Perhaps the best way to decide betweenorthogonal and oblique rotation is torequest oblique rotation [e.g., directoblimin or promax from SPSS] with thedesired number of factors [see Brown,2009] and look at the correlations amongfactors . . . if factor correlations are notdriven by the data, the solution remainsnearly orthogonal. Look at the factorcorrelation matrix for correlations around.32 and above. If correlations exceed .32,then there is 10% (or more) overlap invariance among factors, enough varianceto warrant oblique rotation unless thereare compelling reasons for orthogonalrotation. (p. 646)

Techniques such as varimax rotation are alsooften selected as being simple to interpret, butseveral authorities have argued that oblique rota-tion techniques should be used when simplestructures do not exist. That requires criteria ofwhat constitutes “simple structure” and Gorsuch(1983), for example, deviates slightly from therequirement of zero loadings to say that varimaxmay be used when loadings fall between −.10 to+.10 (i.e., a simple structure exists), and other-wise oblique methods can be used. Kline (2002)also indicates a preference for oblique meth-ods when large samples exist on the premisethat more complex structures may be present.Equally, Buss and Perry (1992) preferred theuse of oblimin when factors may be thoughtto be correlated, and here potential correlationbetween ritual practice and belief systems couldexist. Hence, for these reasons oblimin rota-tion was adopted and pattern matrix structuresare reported because this matrix holds the betaweights to reproduce variable scores from factorscores. For a discussion of these and relatedissues, see Lorenzo-Seva (2000).

In this instance, three factors “explained”59% of the variance and the communality

scores (the amount of variance the three factors“explain” in each of the individual items) werewell in excess .6 for the most part, other thanfor the item about eating seafood. The corre-lation between the first and second factor was.27, between the first and third factor was .06,and between the second and third factors was.27—indicating independence between the fac-tors. The three factors are seemingly based onthree themes—namely:

Factor 1. General sightseeing, accounting for30.5% of the variance;

Factor 2. Degree of belief in Buddhism,accounting for 19.9% of the variance;

Factor 3. To ask and give thanks (hsu yuanand huan yuan), accounting for 8.9% ofthe variance.

That Factor 3 is independent of Factor 2 is con-sistent with the findings and text of an earliersuggestion that there is a folkloric belief andcultural aspects to these behaviors and the dis-plays of these behaviors are not sufficient inthemselves to indicate a deeper understandingof Buddhism, even though aspects of the faithrequire ritual to help develop a more focusedunderstanding of the religion.

The role of Pu-Tuo as a symbol of Chineseculture is shown in the mean scores. The mainreasons why visitors come to the island is basedon sightseeing, to see something different, andto visit places of historic and cultural impor-tance. The importance of huan yuan and hsuyuan is consistent with these motives as visi-tors identity themselves with that culture, whilepossibly also seeking divine intervention in theirlives in one way or another.

Importance of Behaviors

The same form of analysis was undertakenfor the items relating to the types of behav-iors and activities in which visitors to the islandcan become involved. Table 4 provides theresults of this analysis. The sightseeing activ-ity remains important, but equally the cognitiveand emotional components of practicing andbeing involved with the deeper levels of the

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TABLE 4. Importance of Potential Behaviors—Factors and Means

Factors

1 2 3 Mean SD

How important is it to recite Buddhism holy mantras? .897 −.309 .233 2.56 2.45How important is it to discuss Buddhism theory with monastic

members of Pu-Tuo?.888 −.264 .241 2.36 2.32

How important is to meditate and visualize .876 −.237 .207 2.75 2.64How important is it to recite Buddhism holy mantras? .897 −.309 .233 2.56 2.45How important is it to discuss Buddhism theory with monastic

members of Pu-Tuo?.888 −.264 .241 2.36 2.32

How important is it to attend morning pujas in monasteries? .832 −.338 .122 2.89 2.86How important is it to purchase historical books of Pu-Tuo in

order to know more about the place?.728 −.210 .475 2.37 2.28

How important is it to practice the “every 3 steps one kneelsand prays” along the way to monasteries?

.563 −.538 −.046 4.43 3.60

How important is it to burn joss sticks to Bodhisattva ofCompassion for blessings?

.190 −.848 .001 7.82 2.99

How important is it to hsu yuan and huan yuan insidemonasteries/nunneries?

.238 −.805 −.178 7.51 3.16

How important is it to make donations to monasteries/

nunneries?.420 −.717 .180 5.60 3.43

How important is it to throw coins/money to incense burnersfor good luck?

.326 −.635 .461 5.08 3.47

How important is it to eat seafood? .184 −.102 .770 3.04 2.70How important is it to see boulders, caves, beaches, and

natural scenery?.120 .045 .756 5.69 3.23

How important is it to undertake shopping at Pu-Tuo? .333 −.045 .680 1.98 1.97Percentage of variance “explained” 37.5 15.5 11.8Eigenvalue 4.87 2.01 1.54Alpha coefficient .87 .78 .62

Buddhist faith such as reciting mantras, medita-tion, and attending pujas again retain high scoresas shown in the practices of burning joss sticksand engaging in hsu yuan and huan yuan. Themotives for repeating a number of these itemsin the questionnaire under the two heading ofmotives for visiting the island, and the impor-tance of engaging in activities was to assessconsistency of patterns of responses, and thisappears to be high, and the issue is discussedfurther below.

Again, it can be observed that an exploratoryfactor analysis generated a threefold solution.In this instance, however, an examination of thecommunalities and the eigenfactors led to thedeletion of the item relating to the tying of windchimes on the trees. The correlation betweenFactors 1 and 2 was non-significant, but at −.34.It is suggested this degree of correlation relatesto item giving donations having a weighting on

both the first and second factor. With respect tothe quality of the data, it can also be noted thatcommunality scores were high at values rangingfrom .48 to .80.

Implications of Strength of Belief

Again, three factors emerged from the datathat explained just over half the variance, butin this case the ability to generate a clearerinterpretation of the factors was improved byremoving the item “I enjoy attending earlymorning pujas.” The reality was that few touristswould actually do this, and equally the use ofthe terminology “enjoy” is possibly problemat-ical. “Enjoyment” as an emotion ties one to theworld, whereas pujas are arguably about pathsfrom the world through processes of enlighten-ment. Consequently, in Table 5 this item hasbeen deleted.

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Wong, Ryan, and McIntosh 587

TABLE 5. Issues of Belief—Factors and Mean Scores

Component

1 2 3 Mean SD

I believe that burning lots of incense sticks will help get mywishes granted

.824 −.034 .178 6.95 3.17

To make donations to the monasteries will accumulate futureblessings for me and my family

.820 .016 .199 7.35 2.94

I visit Pu-Tuo because of its power in getting one’s wishesgranted

.789 .044 .177 7.11 3.22

To practice the “every 3 steps one kneels” is to show sincerity inhsu yuan/huan yuan

.758 .155 .154 7.17 3.24

I perceive Pu-Tuo as an important center of my faith .739 .284 −.207 6.89 3.23To attend and be sincere to Bodhissattva of Compassion will

bless my family and wishes.727 .129 −.013 6.40 3.32

I hope this trip to Pu-Tuo can bring me blessings and goodfortune

.691 .090 .333 8.70 2.35

Smoking should be prohibited in all areas of Pu-Tuo −.013 .682 .074 7.52 3.44I find Pu-Tuo has been commercialized −.028 .635 .068 7.29 3.18Having seafood restaurants contradicts the sanctity of Pu-Tuo .173 .621 −.003 5.66 3.42I am interested in learning more about Buddhist theory if an

interpretation center was available in the monastery.339 .544 −.096 6.87 3.30

I hope the trip to Pu-Tuo can “un-earth” my Buddhahood, purifykarmas, and help obtain enlightenment

.513 .539 −.291 5.87 3.43

Attending morning puja should be restricted to only Buddhists −.081 .405 .378 4.31 3.45In general I perceive myself to be a Xianke rather than a Buddhist .232 −.011 .661 6.75 3.38To me, Pu-tuo is a mixture of recreational and pilgrimage

destination.074 .003 .614 6.29 3.43

To me, a perfect life is to have prosperity, long life, happiness,social status, and no suffering or sorrow

.461 −.002 .552 8.06 2.75

I seldom talk to monks and nuns present in the monasteriesother than to ask directions

.153 .333 .471 6.75 3.33

Percentage of variance 29.15 11.99 9.73Eigenvalues 4.95 2.04 1.65Alpha coefficient .88 .62 .51

The correlations between Factors 1 and2 were .12, and between Factors 1 and 3, .09.The coefficient of correlation between Factors2 and 3 was .03, while communality scoreswere at acceptable levels, albeit at lower lev-els than previously cited, being between .4 and.8 with two exceptions that related to talking tomembers of the monastic order and restrictingpujas to practicing Buddhists which had valueof about .32.

Table 5 indicates that there is a strong beliefthat visiting the island will bring good fortune(8.70), accumulate future blessings (7.35), andpermit wishes to be granted (7.11). Yet, formany respondents, in spite of possessing pri-marily secular motives for their visit to theisland, and albeit tempered by a superstitious

belief in good fortune or of karma, many are ofthe view that Putuoshan is too commercialized(7.29).

The three factors accounted for 51% of thevariance. The first factor relates to issues ofacquiring good fortune, the second combines amixture of items relating to the practical ambi-ence of Putuoshan and an essential nature ofthe island as a place where one “un-earths,”“goes beyond earthly desire” to progress towardenlightenment—to go beyond the need for rein-carnation. Finally, the third factor reinforces therole of Putuoshan as a place of the secular andthe religious—it is as if one is a Xianke, possess-ing imperfect knowledge of Buddhism, seekingsomething beyond the mundane but in a placethat offers a chance for recreation—perhaps a

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place to obtain a “good life” if not a life thatdoes good.

The Role of Sociodemographics

With reference to motives to visit the island,gender was not a discriminatory variable otherthan females were more motivated that theirmale counterparts to hsu yuan (7.63 vs. 6.93,df = 638, p = .006) and huan yuan (6.33 vs.5.62, df = 638, p = .022). Similarly femalesthought it more important to burn joss sticks(8.06 vs. 7.42, df = 638, p = .009). On thethird scale, a common pattern was that femalesscored significantly higher at p < .01 on issuesof belief than their male counterparts. Hence,the important finding is that both males andfemales tended to common views other thanin cases of observing traditional religious prac-tices. A similar pattern emerges with referenceto age with older respondents scoring higher ontraditional religious practices, and closer exam-ination of the data reinforced a stereotypicalnotion that older females in particular tendedto adhere more closely to religious observance.However, this was not always at statisticallysignificant levels. For example, of those (n =486) scoring above 6.0 on the item of burningjoss sticks for blessings, 326 were female, ofwhich 46 were over the age of 40 years—whichaccounted for 885 of those in this classification.Yet, tests of significance using chi-squared testsfound this was not significant at p = .24.

Secularization and Religious Belief

It has been noted in the literature review thatan issue in contemporary China is the hybrid-ity of a social state where religious beliefs arebeing rediscovered in a period of inherited secu-larization and unprecedented economic growth.In this study, respondents were asked to self-define what type of visitor they were—namely,a Xianke, a Buddhist pilgrim (Sushi); a leisuretourist coming for sightseeing and relaxation; ora cultural tourist particularly interested in histor-ical, heritage, and cultural themes. Using suchnominal data as a determined variable is pos-sible if multiple group logistic or polytomousregression is used. Further advantages accruewith this approach and include: (a) the ability to

include other classificatory data such as sociode-mographic data as determining variables, and(b) it is tolerant of non-normality in the distri-bution of scores on scaled data as it uses naturallogarithms in fitting the model (Blaikie, 2003).This possesses advantages over clustering meth-ods such as hierarchical clustering where theassumptions for its use are more restricted. Forexample, logistic regressions do not assumethat the independent variables are normally dis-tributed, as is the case for discriminant analysis(Hair et al., 1998; Blaikie, 2003).

If the discrete dependent variable Y has Gunique values (G ≥ 2), the logistic regressionmodel is given by the group equations:

ln

(pg

p1

)= ln

(Pg

P1

)+ βg1X1 + βg2X2 + · · ·

+ βgpXp

= ln

(Pg

P1

)+ XBg

,

where:

pg = the probability that an individual withvalues X1, X2, Xp is in group g;

Pg = the prior probabilities of group mem-bership;

βgi = population regression coefficients thatare to be estimated from the data.

Group 1 is called the reference group. Theregression coefficients β for the reference groupare set to zero. The choice of the reference groupis arbitrary. Usually, it is the largest group or acontrol group to which the other groups are to becompared (Kohler & Kreuter, 2009). In this firstinstance, it is the sightseeing group of tourists.This leaves G-1 logistic regression equations inthe multinomial logistic model.

In this study there exist four classificationsof visitor: A (Xianke), B (Buddhist/Sushi), C(Cultural tourist), and D (Sightseeing tourist),which last may be used as a reference groupbeing the largest group by numbers. The logis-tic regression model therefore consists of threeequations, of which the first is:

Ln[PA/PD

] = βA0 + βA1X1 + βA2X2 + βA3X3,

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Wong, Ryan, and McIntosh 589

with the remaining ones substituting B and C forA0 . . . A3.

The overall test for the model is the reduc-tion in likelihood ratios that follow a chi-squareddistribution. Alternative statistics are generatedby programs such as PASW and Statistica whichare classified as Pseudo R-squares, but these arenot as rigorous as the coefficient of determi-nations in linear regression given the nature ofnominal data, and are indicative only. In thisinstance the Cox and Snell R2 was .76 and theNagelkerke R2 was .84 where the determinedvariable was visitor type. In this case the modelfit had a probability of p < .001, indicating anull hypothesis could be rejected. A more use-ful test is the classification table which is akin tomultivariate discrimination and fits the predictedclassification to the actual classification of theindividual respondents. In this case an overallfit was achieved of 80%, with 89.7% of Xiankesbeing correctly classified. The other percentagesare 87.5% for Buddhists, 76.9% for sightseeingtourists, and only 38.7% for heritage/culturetourists. In this last group a further 40% wereallocated to the sightseeing group with much ofthe remainder being classified as Xiankes.

A conventional test for assessing the model isto assess whether there is a 25% improvementover accuracy of respondent classification morethan would be achieved by chance alone. Onemeans of estimating chance accuracy is to cal-culate the proportional by chance accuracy rate.This is computed by summing the squared per-centage of cases in each group. It can be notedthat the only difference between by chance accu-racy for binary logistic models and by chanceaccuracy for multinomial logistic models is thenumber of groups defined by the dependent vari-able and thus the calculation follows a standardprocedure. This can be calculated from the caseprocessing summary table generated by PASWwhere the aggregate of the sum of the squareof group allocations is calculated or it may beachieved directly from other software such asStata. In this instance the proportional by chanceaccuracy was 37.48%, and given a classificationaccuracy of 80%, the criterion for classificationaccuracy is satisfied.

Given this it becomes possible to assess thenature of the motives for visitation and assess

the respective roles of the secular and the reli-gious by assessing the data provided by PASWin the parameter estimates and the likelihoodratios. The latter ratios provide estimates of thesignificance of the variable in its contributionto the determined variable, which in this caseis the self-assessment of primary visitor type.In this study probabilities of p < .01 were usedrather than the standard cut-off point of p <

.05 because of the size of the sample—largersamples tending to generate higher numbers ofapparent statistical significance. Primarily threecategories of significant variables appeared. Thefirst was associated with the folkloric aspects ofthe religion—being a Xianke, namely the burn-ing of joss sticks; the making of hsu yuan (chi-squared = 13.3, but significantly not huan yuan,that is making wishes rather than giving thanks);seeking blessings (chi-squared = 72.7); and def-initions of a good life where one had a longlife, prosperity, happiness, and social status (chi-squared = 11.8). The second category related togeneral sightseeing such as seeing the scenery(chi-squared = 11.6) while the third categorywas associated with matters of faith includingthe wish to attend pujas (chi-squared = 19.0).

The parameter estimates indicate the abil-ity of variables to distinguish respondent visitortype membership with the Wald statistic usedto test the significance of each coefficient by

calculating a z value, (θ−θ0)2

var(θ), that is the maxi-

mum likelihood estimate θ of the parameter(s)of interest θ is compared with the proposedvalue θ0, with the assumption that the differencebetween the two will be approximately normal.Typically the square of the difference is com-pared to a chi-squared distribution (Hedeker,2003). The parameter estimates were thus exam-ined for each of the tourist types. For Xianke thekey statistics were for the items related to view-ing scenery (B = −.357, Wald = 9.79, p = .002,Exp(B) = .70)—the last statistic being inter-preted as 0.7 – 1.0 (0.93), that is for each unitincrease in being a Xianke, sightseeing dimin-ished in importance by 0.93. Thus, for practicinghuan yuan the relevant data were (B = .217,Wald = 7.196, p = .007, Exp(B) = 1.24),thereby a positive relationship exists betweenthese two variables at a significant level.

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Working one’s way through the remainingtourist types in the same way one finds that forBuddhists, key variables are tying chimes ontrees for prayers, the importance of hsu yuanand huan yuan, being sincere, and seeking bless-ings. For sightseers a negative relationship existswith history and culture, a denial of being aXianke, but a positive relationship in wantingtheir wishes to be granted. Finally, re-sorting thegroups confirmed that cultural tourists, as befitsthe definition, are interested in heritage and his-torical sights, but also will engage in traditionalpractices.

Sightseeing Patterns

From the viewpoint of practical destinationmanagement, the question arose as to whetherthere were any implications of these distinc-tions. In many instances it was found that gener-ally many of the sites tended to equally attractthe different forms of tourists, but this is notconsistently the case as shown in Table 6. Thedifferent monasteries have different degrees oforganization and obviously location. Some offerpujas while others do not, some are more acces-sible than others, while others have more or lessmeaning for the faithful. What is of interest isthat a location such as Guan Yin Bronze Statuedraws many sightseers, while the monasteries ofFu Yu, Pu Ji, and Not Going Yin Shrine attractmany more of the devout or cultural tourists. It is

suggested below that such differences may haveplanning implications.

DISCUSSION

The data indicate that the motives for vis-itation to Putuoshan are akin to those foundat other religious sites, especially in China.Namely, such sites attract not only the devoutbut also others interested in heritage, culture,history, and general sightseeing. In this partic-ular case the devout and those seeking enlight-enment in furthering their Buddhist faith (Sushi)account for about 9% of all visitors. Togetherthose adhering to traditional practices suchas lighting joss sticks (Xianke) and generalsightseers account for about 82% of visitors.Hence, although famed throughout the Buddhistworld, Putuoshan remains primarily a popu-lar tourist location, and thus issues are likelyto arise between the general populations oftourists, those belonging to monastic orders, andthose visitors seeking to further their spiritualinvolvement with Buddhism. It was this sub-ject that formed the basis of the interviews withthe monastic orders, and briefly, the monks andnuns had various ways of coping with theseissues that ranged from pujas being held at3:00 a.m. to having monks and nuns presentat shrines and temples to ensure that touristsbehaved in ways consistent with maintaining theintegrity of the buildings. Additionally, warning

TABLE 6. Distribution of Visitor Types Over Locations

Monastery Over-representedcluster

Under-representedcluster

χ2 p

Fa Yu Xianke Sightseer 23.57 .001SushiCultural/Heritage

Pu Ji Xianke Sightseer 18.01 .001

Lok Jia Mountain Xianke Sightseer 19.49 .001Sushi

Not Going Guan YinShrine

Cultural tourist Sightseer 10.41 .015

Sushi

Guan Yin Bronze Statue Sightseers 13.71 .003

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Wong, Ryan, and McIntosh 591

notices were provided about, for example, notlighting too many incense sticks. Certainly theabbots in charge of the different monasteriesmay seek to co-ordinate different functions andschedules relating to classes meeting differentneeds from novice to advanced, pujas, and cer-emonial occasions and negotiate timings withtour operators. On the other hand, too muchorganization may evoke the types of criticismsbeing levied against “over commercialism” as atShaolin (Keane, 2007; Kang, 2009).

What also emerges is that many tourists haverelatively little knowledge about what it is thatthey are looking at. The analysis indicates thatperhaps as many as two-thirds have little knowl-edge about Buddhism and this indicates a possi-ble need for an interpretation-history center thatprovides story telling for guests. At Putuoshanwhat may be described as rudimentary servicesdo exist, as at Pu-ji, which is the largest andmost visited monastery. Such features exist atother comparable locations. For example, in theAmish communities of North America, visitorinterpretation centers both provide informationabout the community and a request for pri-vacy to be respected (Ryan, 2003); while at LoPin on Lantau Island, Hong Kong, an immer-sive multi-media show, Walking With Buddha,takes the visitor through Siddhartha’s life. Oneadditional aspect of providing such a featureis that it would appeal to the tour operatorsand their clientele, and reduce the time whensuch visitors are walking through the island,thereby possibly reducing some of the crowd-ing and environmental impacts, especially if avisit to such a show was linked with restau-rant facilities. The data and observation indi-cates that generally itineraries are dominated bytour groups and their organizers and are cur-rently determined by length of stay and easeof movement. Traditional destination manage-ment practices would indicate a need to separatelocations so as to better meet the needs of thedifferent market segments, and, from a commer-cial viewpoint, introduce some differentiation,which could be in the form of additional infor-mative entertainments on the one had as at LoPin, or of services for the devout that may deterthe simply curious. Another issue describe byWong (2011) is that at the actual monastic sites

crowd handling is currently rudimentary andthis also works against differentiation that mayease tourist management.

To summarize the practical implications fordestination management, it is suggested thatproviding a multi-media show could be part of avisitor management program and opportunitiesexist for a range of theatrical performances—from the serious to the more entertaining—for there are many legends and stories about,for example, Guan Yin (a Chinese name forBodhisattva Avalokitesvara). The use of a vis-itor information center as a means of detaining,informing, entertaining, and feeding tourists soas to reduce wider environmental impacts hasbeen commented upon by Newsome, Moore,and Dowling (2002) and Prato and Fagre (2005)in the context of visitor management in NationalParks, and the same principles apply in thisinstance. From this perspective, the marketingneeds of the different clusters are allied to bestdestination management practice that can aidenvironmental sustainability.

From the viewpoint of wider social signifi-cance it can be concluded that tourism to sacredlocations of traditional Chinese Buddhist prac-tices now emulate much of the tourism thatis occurring in Western locations—namely, thevisitors’ experiences are, for many tourists, sec-ular in nature albeit with practices that evokeChinese concerns with good fortune. One issuefor further research is to more carefully delin-eate the distinctions between sightseeing andfolkloric practices, because if carrying capaci-ties become exceeded at some future, then theprayers for good fortune may be carried out atother alternative locations. Religious and pil-grimage tourism motivated by “strong” beliefsystems based on understandings of sacred textsis possibly still embryonic in contemporaryChina when compared to tourism to sacredplaces which is well established. However, Xu(2011) has suggested that more can be madeof experiential tourism, and that “The pagodaand the bell-strokes of the temples convey a cer-tain kind of Buddhist wisdom, remind you ofpast days and encourage you to challenge newlimits” (p. 105). For her part, Wang (2011) hassuggested that the growth of wellness tourismalso offers new ways for monasteries to meet

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demands while maintaining an ability to meetthe needs of monastic orders. There is littledoubt that tourism to sacred sites in China isincreasing. For example, Xu (2011) notes theincrease in visitor numbers from 300,000 to1.2 million in just 6 years at Wudangshan witha subsequent growth of revenues from 57 to560 million yuan. The days of monastic peacemay be difficult to sustain given such growth innumbers, and thus there is a need for a betterunderstanding of visitor motives so that destina-tion planning can meet both the demands of thetourist and those resident in such areas, and theneeds for conservation.

Conceptually, the study introduces nuancesto the literature on religious and pilgrimagetourism that arise from Chinese practices andproposed scales that may help to develop fur-ther research using modes of confirmatory factoranalysis. Currently, this study fails tests forsuch an analysis as recommended by Westland(2010) due to inadequate numbers in the sam-ple, but this too opens future opportunities forresearchers interested in the topic of religioustourism in China who may wish to use this studyfor comparative purposes.

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SUBMITTED: February 2, 2012FIRST REVISION SUBMITTED:

April 23, 2012FINAL REVISION SUBMITTED:

August 21, 2012ACCEPTED: September 19, 2012

REFEREED ANONYMOUSLY

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