Reviving the Past in the Present: Tourists’ Non-Daily and Non-Modern Experiences Through Hanfu Costume Tourism in China

This study examines how tourists engage with non-daily and non-modern experiences through Hanfu costume tourism in China. In the context of the growing revival of Hanfu and the expansion of cultural heritage tourism, the research explores how costume-based practices enable participants to immerse themselves in imagined historical lifeworlds and negotiate cultural meaning. A mixed-method design was adopted, combining a quantitative survey of 476 tourists with qualitative textual analysis of travel blogs and vlogs shared on social media platforms. The findings support a three-dimensional framework: cultural–historical imagination (embodied nostalgia and connection to an idealized past), ritualized festivity (collective performance and liminal engagement in heritage spaces), and aesthetic appreciation (non-utilitarian visual and sensory pleasure contrasting with everyday clothing). We conclude that Hanfu costume tourism is not historical reenactment but an active, embodied process of cultural engagement and identity negotiation, predominantly practised by a subculture of young, educated, urban Han Chinese women. By providing empirical evidence for a three-dimensional framework, this research contributes to theories of nostalgia, liminality, and embodied heritage in cultural tourism and offers practical implications for designing immersive heritage experiences.