STU College of Liberal Arts Students in Nepal for Fieldwork in Cultural Studies On September 5, 2017 eight Shantou University students, REN Moying 任默颖，DENG Qianqi 邓倩琪，LIANG Shanshan 梁珊珊，LI Haixin 李海欣，GE Xiaofei 戈晓菲，ZHUANG Luyao 庄路遥，CHEN Xinxia 陈新霞，and STU professor, Dr. James McDougall 麦剑辉教授, traveled to Nepal for eight days as part of a summer semester class, “Cultural Studies of Asian Tourism.” This course provides an introduction to Tourism Studies, allowing students an opportunity to examine the cultural dimensions of a trillion-dollar global industry up close and personal. The course also allowed students to examine how Nepal, as a signatory nation to the Belt Road Initiative, sees its relationship with China. The trip was threatened and ultimately delayed one day by Typhoon Mawar.

Over the course of the trip, students met with tourism officials, performed fieldwork, which included interviewing local Nepali workers and officials in the tourism industry, as well as practicing field recordings. The data gathered by students is being used in collaborative projects, based on student research questions. One group investigated the local response to the Belt Road Initiative and its implications on the tourism industry. Another group analyzed a Cultural Studies question of the “Mutual Gaze” between Chinese Tourists and Nepali locals. STU students first traveled to Pokhera, getting a first-hand look at Nepal’s infrastructure challenges and how it affects the tourism industry. Students then traveled to villages in the Annapurna Mountain Chain in order to meet with professionals in the tourism industry and to see how global tourism localizes in remote places that are home to fragile ecologies, economies, and cultural preservation resources. Students had the opportunity to to see the power of Nepal’s natural beauty that has attracted travelers from all over the world for centuries. They interviewed tourists, shopkeepers, and travel guides on steep mountain slopes, making friends with local children and hard working porters. They then traveled to Kathmandu to observe cultural heritage tourism, visiting multi-functional spaces and UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including Swaymbhunath Temple and Durbar Square, both of which function as spaces for tourism, national celebrations, and religious observation. The trip closed with students performing field observations in Kathmandu’s center for the global tourism industry, Thamel. Shyam Dhakal gave students talks on Nepal’s history and culture, which were supplemented by daily lectures on Cultural Studies of Tourism led by Dr. James McDougall. Students participated in five academic research workshops and devoted a portion of each day to reflection writing.

On September 10, 2017, STU students and faculty participated in a seminar titled, “Cultural Exchange and Soft Power: Nepal and China,” at the Kathmandu School of Law, organized by Hari P. Chand “Agni Punja” and Vijay Vishwal who gave a tour of the College as well as very kind welcoming addresses during the opening remarks. Kathmandu School of Law’s Dr. Pranav Kharel, Professor of Sociology, presented on “Nepal and China: Sociological Constructs,” which focused on the nature of national identity and bilateral relations pre- and post- 1949; Dr. Atindra Dahal gave a paper on the importance of people-to-people relations, China and Nepal’s historical ties, and the mutual benefits the two neighboring countries could share through close relations in his paper “Nepal and China: Possibilities of Similar Interventions”; Dr. Yubraj Sangroula gave a paper titled “Nepal and China: A New Move in Historical Linkages and Current Trends,” discussing the mixing of royal bloodlines across the Himalayan plateau that have long connected the people of Nepal with China, particularly along a centuries-old Lhasa-Kathmadu trade corridor, which have future implications with the Belt Road Initiative. STU’s Dr. James McDougall presented a paper titled, “Current Trends and Perceptions: Intervention and Possibilities of Cultural Exchange” that used World System Theory to examine the potential bilateral benefits between Nepal and China through the Belt Road Initiative; Dr. Honkong Rana and Dr. Prem Chandar Rai Kathmandu gave closing remarks, noting the new MOU with Renmin Daxue 人民大学 that will bring a contingent of Chinese students to Kathmandu School of Law, and reiterating the benefits of people-to-people diplomacy.

During the seminar STU students presented their research in a sharing session with Nepali students. STU students LIANG Shanshan 梁珊珊 and ZHUANG Luyao 庄路遥 discussed their observations of the perceptions that Nepalis in the tourism industry had of the Belt Road Initiative. LI Haixin 李海欣 and DENG Qianqi 邓倩琪 shared their research into the “mutual gaze” between Chinese tourists and Nepali locals. Kathmandu School of Law students, Kundan Raj Sharma and Rakshya Giri, discussed the importance of Chinese-Nepali relations from international relations and economic perspectives. These academic exchanges were followed by tea that featured Nepalese mo-mos (饺子) and flowing conversations.

Our Nepali colleagues who helped to plan the trip, Pankaj Pradhananga and longtime friend of STU, Binod Bhattarai, graciously organized a meeting with Sunil Sharma, the Officiating Director of Research, Planning, and Monitoring of the Nepal Tourism Board. The Nepal Tourism Board is a partnership between government and private industry that provides leadership in promoting and regulating Nepal’s tourism industry. Sunil Sharma discussed infrastructure, capacity, and development of the tourism industry, sharing the 2,000,000 tourists by 2020 plan. Currently, Nepal averages 800,000 foreign tourists who come to Nepal per year. Mr. Sharma connected the ambitious targets of the plan to the Belt Road Initiative, and shared how the Nepal Tourism Board has been working to welcome and accommodate Chinese tourists. Students had the opportunity to ask questions related to their research, and provide observations from Chinese perspectives of the Nepali global tourism industry.

Students will use this experience to write research-based recommendation reports which will be submitted to the College of Liberal Arts, Center for Global Studies. This incredible educational opportunity was made possible by the hard work and flexibility by our colleagues in Nepal, Binod Bhattari, Pankaj Pradhananga, and Shyam Dhakal. The course was made possible through the generous support from STU President, Dr. JIANG Hong 姜虹校长, Vice President, Dr. LIN Danming 林丹明副校长, Party Secretary Dr. CHEN Chuqun 陈楚群书记, Dr. Lawrence LIAO 廖学全, Director of the International Office, Dr. MAO Sihui 毛思慧文学院院长, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, and Professor ZHAO Wuming 赵无名全球研究中心主任, Director of the Center for Global Studies. The trip would not have been possible without the hard work and determination of Landy LIU 刘丹凝, LI Ye 李烨, and Savannah LUO 罗聪.