Regional disparity and convergence of China’s inbound tourism economy

Comprehending regional characteristics and influencing factors of China’s inbound tourism economy is important to make effective policies that will help inbound tourism develop harmoniously and shrink regional disparity. This paper studied the regional disparity and convergence of China’s inbound tourism economy during 1996–2008 with the methods of σ-convergence, club convergence and β-convergence. The results indicate that 1) inbound tourism receipts per capita (ITRPC) of the whole country, the eastern, central and western regions presented the rapid increasing trend; 2) ITRPC of the whole country was characterized by convergence; 3) the eastern region presented club convergence, but the central and western regions did not show this trend; 4) the star-hotel levels and investment in fixed assets for the tourism industry per capita had a same trend to growth rates of ITRPC, promoting inbound tourism development, and there was no difference among the 31 provinces (municipalities) in the mainland of China; 5) but the proportion of employed persons in the tourism industry accounting for total population and the proportion of the tertiary industry accounting for GDP had a reversal trend to growth rates of ITRPC, shrinking the provincial disparity in inbound tourism economy, and there were differences between the developed provinces and the developing provinces. Based on these analyses, we put forward some suggestions for the developing provinces to speed up inbound tourism economy.     

Foundation and application of background trend line of China’s inbound tourism

Modern inbound tourism in China has been developing for 20 years, a trend line of inbound tourists in statistical data began to show. This paper introduces the concept of tourism background trend line, and explores its two functions as a barometer in demonstrating fluctuation in the tourism economy and as a forecaster in forecasting tourism development. The tourism background trend line is a new concept, the word “background” derived from environment science, refers to the “trend line” which reflects the dynamic curve or dynamic equation of tourism development without considering the impact of unexpected incidents. The introduction of this concept was inspired by Karl Marx’s comments on the relation between value and price. Tourism background trend line reflects the summary of multiple factors involving tourism resources, tourism demand, population growth, the scale and speed of economic development, and the spatial interaction between tourism origins and destimations. It demonstrates the natural and stable trend and the temporal law of tourism development in a country or region. The tourism statistical curve is at random, susceptible to disruptions and disturbances from serious political, economic and environmental happenings, but it always fluctuates around the background line. Tourism background line can reveal the potential of a country’s tourism development. Compared with the statistical line, it can be used as a “barometer” indicating ups and downs of tourism industry in the past. When naturally extended, the background trend line also can be used for forecasting the trend of tourism development in future. In this paper, 4 tourism background trend lines of China’s inbound tourists, i. e. foreign tourists, Hong Kong/Macao/Taiwan tourists, overseas Chinese tourists and total tourists from abroad, were established with statistical data from 1978 to 1996. And the impacts of the Political Event in 1989 (or Tiananmen Square Incident) on China’s inbound tourism were evaluated. The result shows that the impact of the Event was not limited within one year, but it stretched over 3 years. The total loss was 20 million in tourist arrivals and $1620 million in foreign currency income. The paper also studied the trend of China’s inbound tourism in the next 4 years. Foundation item: Under the auspices of National Natural Science Foundation of China. Brography: SUN Gen-nian(1961 —), male, a native of Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province, master of science, associate professor. His research interests include environment science, geography modeling and MIS for tourism.     

Applicability and prospect of China’s development zone model in Africa

Development zones have been an important spatial approach to promoting economic development since China's reform and opening-up. They have also been major contributors to the processes of China's industrialization and urbanization. Along with improvements in the worldwide industrial division of labor and the gradual implementation of China's development zones' Go Global strategy, it is necessary for Africa, a hot spot of global industrialization in recent years, to learn from China's development zone model. By attracting China's capital, technology and enterprises to Africa via Sino-African co-built development zones, a pattern of high complementarity and mutual development between China and Africa can be formed which does favor further improvement of the global industrial division of labor. In order to study the applicability and prospect of China's development zone model in Africa as per the above-mentioned international situation, this paper first sorts out the development course of China's development zones and discusses their roles in China's industrialization and urbanization. Subsequently, this paper analyzes the status quo of industrial development in Africa as a whole and the differences in industrial development between China and Africa, aiming to justify the timing of industrial transfer from China to Africa by constructing Sino-African co-built development zones. Lastly, this paper analyzes the current situation of six Sino-African co-built development zones by focusing on their operation modes, industry types and investment promotion models. In the authors' view, Sino-African co-built development zones can function as a new window of China-African cooperation, a new carrier of African industrialization, and a new engine of global industrial restructuring. China should adhere to the general principles of ‘Sino-African Integration, Multi-Cooperation, Mutual Benefit, Scientific Location, Systematic Planning, Cluster Growth and Open Development' in the planning and construction of development zones in Africa, effectively promoting Africa as the very important part of the global industry system.     

Information standardization for typical toxic and harmful algae in China’s coastal waters—a case study of Karenia mikimotoi

Journal of Oceanology and Limnology - To assist the researches of toxic and harmful algae and provide government workers with judgment basis for decision-making related events, we established a...     

Community tourism as practiced in the mountainous Qiang region of Sichuan Province, China — a case study in Zhenghe Village

In China, community tourism is still a relatively new phenomenon, but the villagers of a small Qiang village in the Qiang Autonomous County of Beichuan in Southwestern Sichuan have initiated tourism in a way which conforms to the basic theory of community tourism development. This demonstrates that community tourism possesses a strength and vitality that can promote the development of tourism in the rural and mountainous areas. In the district of Zhenghe Village, the tourism industry, based on the community tourism model, is the mainstay of its economy. The practice of community tourism in the village not only promotes the economic development of the village community, but also leads to the protection of the mountainous natural environment and of the culture of the Qiang people. This paper investigates the development process of community tourism in Zhenghe and shows how the local residents participate in this process. It also looks at how profits have been distributed within the community. It demonstrates that community tourism is a correct choice by the Zhenghe people as they have dearly been moving from poverty to prosperity, while the local ecology and environment have been simultaneously protected. The authors hope that other minority villages with similar local conditions and natural resources will be able to use this example to develop their own community tourism.     

An integrated spatial planning of the mountainous landscapes for ski sports in a case area at the eastern Türkiye

Mountainous regions have disadvantages in economic development because of harsh physical and climatic conditions. However, winter tourism activities are one of the key components for supporting economic development in the highlands. Establishing a ski resort area supports direct and indirect employment in a region, and it stops immigration from mountainous regions to other places. This research aimed to assess the potential ski areas using a multi criteria evaluation technique in the Van region ...     

Spatio-temporal distribution of vegetation index and its influencing factors——a case study of the Jiaozhou Bay,China

The coastal zone is an area characterized by intense interaction between land and sea, high sensitivity to regional environmental changes, and concentrated human activities. Little research has investigated vegetation cover changes in coastal zones resulting from climate change and land-use change, with a lack of knowledge about the driving mechanism. Normalized diff erence vegetation index(NDVI) can be used as an indicator for change of the coastal environment. In this study, we analyzed the interannual changes and spatial distribution of NDVI in the coastal zone around Jiaozhou Bay in Qingdao, a coastal city undergoing rapid urbanization in northeast China. The underlying causes of NDVI variations were discussed in the context of climate change and land-use change. Results showed that the spatio-temporal distribution of NDVI displayed high spatial variability in the study area and showed a typical trend of gradually increasing from coastal to inland regions. The significant increase area of NDVI was mainly found in newly added construction land, extending along the coastline towards the inland. Land vegetation cover demonstrated a certain response relationship to sea-land climate change and land-based activities. The impact of land-based human activities was slightly greater than that of sea-land climate change for land vegetation cover. The results indicate that promoting ecological policies can build an ecological security framework of vegetation suitable for the resource characteristics of coastal cities. The framework will buf fer the negative ef fects of sea-land climate change and land-based human activities on vegetation cover and thereby achieve the balance of regional development and ecological benefits in the coastal zone.     

Influence of tourists’ environmental tropisms on their attitudes to tourism and nature conservation in natural tourist destinations: A case study of Jiuzhaigou National Park in China

People′s environmental tropism has an effect on their understanding of tourism-nature relationship,and also influences their attitudes to natural resources utilization and environmental protection.Taking Jiuzhaigou National Park of China as a study case,the authors conducted some quantitative analyses with the tools of SPSS 16.0 and LISREL 8.7,to explore the influence of tourists′ environmental tropism on their attitudes to tourism and nature conservation in the natural tourist destination.Three hypotheses and the theoretic model of influences of tourists′ environmental tropism on their attitudes to tourism and nature conservation have been tested and accepted based on the Structural Equation Model analysis on survey data collected in Jiuzhaigou National Park of China.Some conclusions were drawn as follows: 1) tourists′ human-prioritized concept influences their cognition to tourism-nature relationship.This concept has a positive influence on their supportive attitudes to tourism,but a negative influence on their attitudes to nature conservation;2) tourists′ human-nature coordination concept has a positive influence on their supportive attitudes to both tourism and nature conservation,especially to the latter.This paper generally proves that human′s environmental tropism does have an influence on their attitudes to tourism and nature conservation in natural tourist destinations.     

Spatial analysis of the impact of land-use on surface runoff and soil erosion-a case study of western Jilin

IntroductionNever before hasit beensotrue than now,thatlandis ali mitedresource.Population growth and as-sociated human activities,especially agricultureacross the world have not only led to land degrada-tion,but soil loss at rates that have pushed arablesoils to frontier thresholds.In the absence of arablesoil,the human environment would cease to groworeven demise(Ramet al.,2006).Studies haveshownthat in many regions of the world,runoff andsoil erosion differ withland-use type.Judson(1965)re…     

Slope stability FEM analysis and retaining wall design：a case study of clinker in Benxi of Liaoning

Stability is always the most important problem after high slope was excavated. The study analyzed the stress and strain inside the slope by Finite Element Method （FEM） and carried through stress distribution and failure zone, then analyzed the stability of the slope using three different methods and came to the conclusion that it is in unstable condition, so the designed retaining wall was put forward which makes the slope stable.     

Residents’ environmental conservation behaviour in the mountain tourism destinations in China: Case studies of Jiuzhaigou and Mount Qingcheng

This study aimed at gaining an understanding of the formation of residents’ Environmental Conservation Behaviour (ECB) to promote sustainable tourism development in Chinese mountain areas. In particular, a theoretical framework was constructed by merging residents’ mountain attachment and their environmental values, and awareness of environmental consequences based on the Cognition Behaviour Theory. This research sampled 642 residents with convenience sampling method in Jiuzhaigou and Mount Qingcheng, and structural equation modelling analysis was conducted to identify the relationships among the above variables. Results verified that mountain attachment affected people’s awareness of environmental consequences, which then affected their ECB. Environmental values and mountain attachment directly and positively influenced ECB. Moreover, awareness of environmental consequences played the most prominent role in predicting ECB among all the predictors in this study. In all, this study derived several significant implications which can not only contribute to environmental management policies in tourism field but also help to improve the levels of the antecedents of residents’ ECB and promote sustainable tourism development in Chinese mountain areas.     

Regional structure and spatial morphology characteristics of oasis urban agglomeration in arid area —A case of urban agglomeration in northern slope of Tianshan Mountains, Northwest China

It is great important to the health development of urban agglomeration to correctly understand the formation and development law of regional structure of urban agglomeration. Employing the analysis methods like fractal theory and quantitative statistics, coupling with the use of remote sensing images and other spatial data, this article discusses the urban agglomeration of oasis on the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains in an arid area, and conducts the researches on its city scale, spatial distribution and individual form from 1990 to 2005. The result shows that it has loose hierarchical scale structure and polarization trend of population distribution while its hierarchical scale structure tends to mature. Under the influence of natural conditions, the spatial layout of urban agglomeration of oasis has macro characteristics that suggest cities distributed along oasis edges (dense or sparse), spatially expand along rivers, and cluster around traffic branches. The connectivity among the cities is high and shows an internal organization form of a banding distribution. The whole spatial shape of the internal structure of cities presents a “dumbbell” form, with mononuclear phenomenon receding and multi-nuclear appearing gradually. Individual cities spatially expand along rivers, portraying a long strip appearance. It indicates that the urban agglomeration of oasis shows regular and close structure but with a tendency to be complicated form and the loose structure. In the development of urban agglomeration, the authors recommend that the development of the city with good economic development conditions should be strengthened, and more attention be put into regional planning.     

What is the relationship between ecosystem services and urbanization? A case study of the mountainous areas in Southwest China

China is undergoing a rapid urbanization process, and urbanization will have a direct impact on regional ecosystems and affect regional ecosystem services. Considering the mountainous counties in Southwestern China as the research object, this study reveals the spatial clustering characteristics of four typical ecosystem services(food production, soil conservation, water yield and carbon sequestration)as well as the trade-offs and synergies among ecosystem services in different urbanized areas. At the same time, piecewise linear regression is used to determine the threshold of the influence of urbanization on ecosystem services. The results indicate that: 1) There are spatial autocorrelations among the four typical ecosystem services; with strong clustering characteristics, the positive correlation types are "clustered" locally; and with significant spatial heterogeneity, the negative correlation types are scattered and mainly appear in the highly urbanized area. 2) There are also remarkable differences in the relationship among various ecosystem services in different urbanized areas, and in particular, there are marked trade-offs between food production and carbon sequestration in the moderately urbanized area and the highly urbanized area. However, there are synergies between them in the lowly urbanized area. 3) With an increase in the compounded night light index(CNLI), water yield, carbon sequestration, food production and overall ecosystem services values present an increasing-decreasing trend, the soil conservation function value shows a decreasing-increasing trend.The response of water yield, carbon sequestration,food production, and overall ecosystem services to the compounded night light index(CNLI) has a threshold of 1.2642, 1.4833, 1.3388, 1.5146 and 1.2237,respectively. Based on the detected relationships between urbanization and ecosystem services, this study provides a theoretical reference for the selection of urbanization development models in key ecological functional areas.     

Examination and Interpretation of the Quantitative Validity in China’s Corporate-based Urban Network Analysis

As a matter of expediency, most existing corporate-based urban networks can only be quantitatively measured by either counting the number of linkages or calculating the product of estimated service values. However, the impreciseness arising due to the limits of quantitative analysis may prove fatal to studies about non-market economies like China. Employing the capital investment dataset as an example, we build a capital-weighted intervention network as well as an unweighted control network to carry out an examination of the quantitative validity in China’s corporate-based urban network analysis. Both the overall spatial pattern and top city-dyads within the capital-weighted network witness Beijing, as the most dominant city, overshadow the performance of the others, and the unweighted network shows multilateral interactions between China’s top cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou. To further interpret the noticeable differences, we divide the overall network into two subnetworks, inferred by focusing on state-owned enterprises(SOEs) and private enterprises. The results show that the public and private sectors have separately created vastly different subnetworks in China and that SOEs play a much more significant role in terms of capital. Besides fresh insights into China’s urban network, this study provides a cautionary tale reminding researchers of the essentiality and complexity when making a quantitative distinction between different linkages.     

Henry’s law constant for phosphine in seawater: determination and assessment of influencing factors

The Henry’s Law constant (k) for phosphine in seawater was determined by multiple phase equilibration combined with headspace gas chromatography. The effects of pH, temperature, and salinity on k were studied. The k value for phosphine in natural seawater was 6.415 at room temperature (approximately 23°C). This value increases with increases in temperature and salinity, but no obvious change was observed at different pH levels. At the same temperature, there was no significant difference between the k for phosphine in natural seawater and that in artificial seawater. This implies that temperature and salinity are major determining factors for k in marine environment. Double linear regression with Henry’s Law constants for phosphine as a function of temperature and salinity confirmed our observations. These results provide a basis for the measurement of trace phosphine concentrations in seawater, and will be helpful for future research on the status of phosphine in the oceanic biogeochemical cycle of phosphorus.     

Analysis of channel bank erosion rate using exposed roots of trees: a case study of lavij stream,northern Alborz Mountains,Iran

Powerful alluvial rivers in the northern Alborz mountain ranges erode river banks due to having high slopes.Most of these rivers flow in forest areas.In this research,the rate of the river bank erosion was examined using the exposed roots of the trees.For this purpose,8 reaches of Lavij Stream were investigated.To determine the first year of root exposure,two sets of macroscopic and microscopic indicators were utilized.Accordingly,the rate of the stream bank erosion was estimated.The results were analyzed by using statistical test,which showed insignificant differences between the two groups of indicators.Due to its more abundance(frequency)on the margins and easy detection of its root through the exposure(macroscopic and microscopic)indicators,Alnus glutinosa(black alder)species could be more easily and accurately analyzed as compared with any other tree species in the region.The mean erosion rate of the riverbank using the extruded roots was estimated to be 0.08 m/yr.The hydrological analyses of flood flows showed that 95%of Lavij Stream bank erosion was caused by the river bank full discharges with a return period of 1-3 years.     

Optimal livelihood strategy for different poverty groups among farmers: a case study of the Qin-Ba Mountain area in South-Shaanxi,China

Achieving sustainable livelihood is the ultimate goal of poverty alleviation efforts in mountainous areas,and selecting an optimal livelihood strategy for different poverty-type farmers greatly improves farmers’livelihood capital,resists livelihood risks,and promotes sustainable development.For farmers,optimal livelihood strategy means better employment opportunities,higher family income(or better income structure),and stronger employability or development potential.This paper classifies different types of farmers’poverty on the basis of a quantitative evaluation of farmers’livelihood capital in the Qin-ba Mountain Area in South-Shaanxi by using the k-means clustering method and subsequently the fuzzy evaluation method to evaluate the effectiveness of farmers’livelihood strategies.Then,the multi-attribute decision-making model is used to analyze the selection of optimal livelihood strategies for different poverty-type farmers.The results suggest a significant difference in the selection of the optimal livelihood strategy for different poverty-type farmers.Farmers without financial and human capital choose to"go out to work,"farmers lacking natural capital choose to"acquire social insurance and government relief,"farmers without physical capital choose to"use loans,"and farmers lacking social capital choose to"use savings."Studying the selection of optimal livelihood strategies for different poverty-type farmers can help to propose targeted sustainable livelihood optimization programs for farmers and accelerate efforts to overcome poverty in mountainous areas.     

Articulating China’s Science and Technology: Knowledge Collaboration Networks Within and Beyond the Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis in China

In this paper, we reconsider the defining but often overlooked ‘hinge' function of megalopolises by analyzing how megalopolises have articulated national and international urban systems in the context of a globalizing knowledge economy. Taking the case of China's Yangtze River Delta(YRD) region, we particularly focus on knowledge circulation within and beyond the YRD region by analyzing the pattern and process of knowledge collaboration at different geographical scales during the 2004–2014 period. Results show that the structure of scientific knowledge collaboration as reflected by co-publications has been strongest at the national scale whereas that of technological knowledge collaboration as measured by co-patents has been strongest at the global scale. Despite this difference, the structure of both scientific and technological knowledge collaboration has been functionally polycentric at the megalopolitan scale but become less so at the national and global scales. The ‘globally connected but locally disconnected' pattern of Shanghai's external knowledge collaboration suggests that the gateway role of the YRD megalopolis in promoting knowledge collaboration at different geographical scales will take time before it is fully realized.     

Impact of sea surface temperature front on stratus-sea fog over the Yellow and East China Seas — a case study with implications for climatology

A stratus-sea fog event that occurred over the Yellow and East China Seas on 3 June 2011 is investigated using observa-tions and a numerical model, with a focus on the effects of background circulation and Sea Surface Temperature Front (SSTF) on the transition of stratus into sea fog. Southerly winds of a synoptic high-pressure circulation transport water vapor to the Yellow Sea, creating conditions favorable for sea fog/stratus formation. The subsidence from the high-pressure contributes to the temperature inversion at the top of the stratus. The SSTF forces a secondary circulation within the ABL (Atmospheric Boundary Layer), the sink-ing branch of which on the cold flank of SSTF helps lower the stratus layer further to reach the sea surface. The cooling effect over the cold sea surface counteracts the adiabatic warming induced by subsidence. The secondary circulation becomes weak and the fog patches are shrunk heavily with the smoothed SSTF. A conceptual model is proposed for the transition of stratus into sea fog over the Yellow and East China Seas. Finally, the analyses suggest that sea fog frequency will probably decrease due to the weakened SSTF and the reduced subsidence of secondary circulation under global warming.     

Temporal change of plankton size structure preserved by Lugol’s solution: a FlowCAM study

Journal of Oceanology and Limnology - Plankton size structure is crucial for understanding marine ecosystem dynamics and the associated biogeochemical processes. A fixation step by acid...