Place promotion plays an important role in enhancing the attractiveness and competitiveness of a place. The existing studies, however, have focused on the field of urban areas and small towns, and relatively little attention has been paid to the rural areas, especially in promoting the rural nature rather than the historical and cultural heritage. In addition, limited scholarship has investigated the evaluation of place promotion, increasingly making a call to examine the circuit of production and consumption of place image in the actions of place promotion. Taking Xixinan village in Huangshan city, China as a case study, this paper thus comprehensively uses qualitative methods to analyze the construction and communication of place image in such a rural tourism destination, as well as tourists' perception, consumption and feedback of the projected place image. It is found that the local government, centered on the natural landscape of the maple poplar forest, takes advantage of the local ecological environment to construct the image of the 'Wizard of Oz' and actively promote it, marketing it as a romantic place myth. Essentially, the place image of 'The Wizard of Oz' is a version of rural idyll, in which such seductive place promotion caters to people's escape from urban modernity, as well as nostalgia for the countryside. Through the analysis of embodied consumption, it is further found that tourists' consumption behavior and feelings are in line with the setting of rural idyll constructed by the local government, and they show corresponding nuanced characteristics in physical sense, cognition and emotion. Meanwhile, it is also argued that it is not limited to the scope of the previous discourse of place promotion. Tourists' embodied experience reveals their positivity and agency, making sense in the construction of their subjective meaning and the consumption of place. Under the premise of successful place promotion, tourists' rural consumption behavior is able to be fed back to the next round of tourism production, further shaping the rurality of the 'Wizard of Oz' in Xixinan village. By doing so, the consumption of tourists reinforces the representation of the previously established tourist landscape discourse. This paper contributes to the academic debate of 'clarifying the conceptual confusion between place promotion and place marketing and advancing relevant empirical research'. Further, it advances the empirical research agenda of 'circuits of tourism' proposed by Irena Ateljevic by placing the geographical process of this framework in a rural context, and discussing the production and consumption of tourism on the rurality. In practice, this paper provides planning guidance for rural tourism marketing and tourism experience creation.

The rapid development of urbanization has placed traditional village cultural landscapes at risk of decline. Tourism-induced production and consumption of landscape symbols offer new perspectives for the protection and revitalization of traditional village cultural landscapes in the new era. Using actor-network theory and taking Huangling village in Wuyuan county, Jiangxi, as a case study, this research explores the process and mechanisms of tourism placemaking under the symbolization of the "Shaiqiu" cultural landscape. The results show that: (1) Huangling Tourism Company plays a pivotal role in the local tourism development, acting as a key actor in the symbolization of the "Shaiqiu" landscape, mobilizing diverse actors through interessement, enrolment and mobilisation. (2) The tourism development in Huangling village undergoes two stages: the shaping of the core symbol of "Shaiqiu" and the integration of the generalized "Shaiqiu" landscape symbol. Throughout this evolution, the obligatory passage point (OPP) of the actor network shifts from "Develop rural tourism, revitalize Huangling" to "Enhance the quality of tourism projects, create a rural tourism complex." (3) The agency of key actors, exploration of non-human actor attributes, and the intervention of significant heterogeneous actors are intrinsic mechanisms driving the local tourism development in Huangling village under the symbolization of cultural landscape. This study broadens the theoretical understanding of placemaking from the perspective of landscape symbolization, offering practical insights for the protection and renewal of traditional village cultural landscapes in the new era.

The Grand Canal, a testament to China's prosperity and changes for thousands of years, features traditional villages along its route as living embodiments of the rich historical culture. Examining the spatial morphology of these villages offers a profound comprehension of traditional villages, which is crucial for supporting their conservation and development efforts. The study focuses on 48 traditional villages situated along the Jiangsu section of the Grand Canal. Spatial syntax indicators are utilized to quantitatively characterize their spatial configurations, while hierarchical clustering techniques powered by machine learning classify the spatial patters. The findings of this study illuminate the diverse spatial patterns, distribution traits, and influencing factors of representative traditional villages along the Jiangsu section. The research findings are as follows: (1) Spatial patterns of traditional villages along the Jiangsu section encompass 6 categories: high permeability, high compactness, high recognizability, high permeability-compactness, high permeability-recognizability, and high compactness-recognizability, accounting for 25%, 6%, 10%, 17%, 19%, and 23% respectively. (2) In terms of spatial infiltration, travel potential, spatial compactness, and local space recognition, villages along the Jiangnan section of the Grand Canal (south of the Yangtze River) are superior to those along the Zhong and Li canals. Villages in Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, and Zhenjiang primarily feature three types of double-high patterns. Huai'an is characterized by high compactness and high recognizability, Yangzhou by high permeability-compactness and high compactness-recognizability. Villages in Xuzhou and Suqian are primarily noted for their high permeability. (3) Influencing factors encompass natural factors (e.g., terrain, landscape patterns), which impact village boundaries and morphological growth; subjective and social factors, actively adapted by actors; and economic and policy factors regulating rural construction. In conclusion, the Grand Canal National Park construction and world heritage protection, rural planning and construction along the Jiangsu section should clarify spatial boundaries, emphasize village characteristics, and enhance transportation efficiency. This will safeguard Grand Canal's historical culture, foster sustainable rural development and harmony between humans and nature.