Comparing literary tourism in Mainland China and Taiwan: The Lu Xun Native Place and the Lin Yutang House

Renowned writers are noted for their literary works. Sometime their former residences and birthplaces become landmarks where readers can pay homage to or trace the footsteps of places that inspired the literature. This study compares two writers' residences in Asia, the Lu Xun Native Place in southern China and the Lin Yutang House in Taiwan. A review of Lu Xun's and Lin Yutang's lives and their literary works was conducted and their significance noted. Then surveys with questionnaires, open-ended interviews, and on-site observations were conducted and importance-performance analysis (IPA) was utilized, in order to understand the visitors' satisfaction. Also, perusal of advertising and promotional literature for the two places and interviews with the administrative staffs of the two literary places gave better comprehension of local governments' policies and operation strategies for these places. From information gathered from the two cases we may consider how to strike a balance between literary value and economic effects and use this information as a vital tool when planning a literary tourism site. Both literary tourism sites have seen a steady growth in the number of tourists. This can be seen as a positive message about the fast-growing Asian tourism business and the need to prepare sites such as the two examined here.