1. Introduction
Development of the tourism industry and increasing global communication have fostered the demands for high-quality translation of tourism texts. Due to the science and technology evolution, tourism promotional channels have changed a lot, ranging from traditional printed ones such as brochures, leaflets, and posters to more advanced ones like websites. Compared to the traditional media, websites provide more opportunities for tourism promotion and publicity, but also tend to be multi-linguistic, multi-cultural, multi-modal, non-linear, and interactive, posing further challenges to the transfer practices. In addition, the way tourists collect destination-related information has changed a lot, too. According to recent statistics in the Annual Report of China Inbound Tourism Development 2021 issued by the China Tourism Academy (Data Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism), 88% potential overseas visitors to China gather information through online channels. At the same time, the US market has excellent potential in China’s inbound tourism. However, as can be seen from existing research results, many tourism website translations are not satisfying in terms of linguistic aspects, and more importantly, there are problems in cultural aspects, inevitably weakening the expected functions. For example, Pierini (2007) finds that a major problem in tourism website translation is cultural. One instance is concerned with three terms denoting types of accommodation: bothy is left untranslated; bunkhouse is rendered with rifugio by approximation; lodge is rendered with locanda by approximation. They are all entities of Anglo-Saxon material culture, having no “allocated” equivalents in Italian culture. Therefore, improper dealing may lead to misunderstandings among the target readers, thus damaging the expected functions. Another problem is posed by stylistic conventions. The translator has directly transferred Italian style into the TT, including non-personalisation such as lacking first and second person, heavy style featuring long and complex sentences, syntactic oddities and improperlexical choices. Translation of this kind fails to communicate with the target audience in a friendly, reader-oriented way and reduces readers’ interests in the destination depicted, thus unable to realize the intended functions. He & Tao (2010) echo the view that one of the most common translation problems is caused by culture-specific concept, which may be quite familiar to native people but strange to people outside that specific community. For instance, “AAAA National Attraction” in Chinese refers to high-quality tourist attraction, while for overseas tourists, the concept of four A is quite unfamiliar or even queer. Besides culture-specific concept, frequent use of overstatements can be found in the Chinese tourism website text, which may seem too subject for English readers, who prefer a more objective and down-to-earth style. He & Tao (2010) also find translation errors at the linguistic level, including improper use of active or passive voice, improper wording and misuse of singular and plural forms. Target readers may doubt the reliability of the destination descriptions, and thus the expected functions will be weakened.
As a whole, theories applied in the tourism website translation studies are mainly Skopos Theory, eco-translatology and localization. An insight into transfer practices based on the CCT model helps to enrich research perspectives in this field. In addition, most of the related studies analyze tourism website translation by consciously or subconsciously separating cultural factors from other factors such as linguistic and pragmatic ones, ignoring their inherent relations or underlying influences of culture. Besides, most of the current studies investigate the verbal elements of the tourism websites, ignoring non-verbal elements. This study looks into both linguistic elements and pictures to have an effective try at non-verbal element translation practices. Finally, this study adopts a prospective translation approach, deals with tourism website text from a macro cultural perspective, promotes further discussion on the cultural factors in tourism website translation, and provides suggestions for translation practitioners in related industries.
2. Literature Review
2.1. Definition of Tourism Website
Definition of tourism website is not established and rarely illustrated in the studies of tourism website translation. Tao (2014) states that tourism website is a platform for tourism organizations to integrate traditional tourism resources and provides a full range of tourism-related information, product information and reservation services to the public. It is also an important channel for cities to construct the destination image, promote products and improve popularity. The official website is the most authoritative, most credible, or the only designated public website established by a government department, social organization or enterprise. Its specificity and authority make it unquestionably one of the most direct and effective ways for the public to obtain information. Huang (2020) defines tourism website as an important tool to persuade and encourage the public to travel to specific places by means of virtual communication, picture presentation and text description. Xing et al. (2017) hold that tourism website is oriented to tourists, mainly providing air tickets, hotels, travel routes and other tourism products, involving food, accommodation, transportation, travel, shopping, entertainment and other aspects of comprehensive consulting and booking services. Skibitska (2013b) regards the tourist website as a combination of verbal and non-verbal signs pursuing the objective of informing, convincing and luring the target audience. Despite their distinct focuses on defining tourism website, key points can be summarized as follows. Website is established purposefully. For the operator, tourism website helps to build a favored destination image among the target readers, i.e. potential tourists by providing information, products or services, thus persuading and encouraging them to travel there. And therefore, tourism website functions in two aspects. One is providing information, products or services for the target readers, and the other is persuading and encouraging them to take action. In addition, website is a combination of multi-modal elements, including verbal and non-verbal elements such as texts, pictures, videos, and audios.
2.2. Types of Tourism Website
Types of tourism websites have not attracted scholars’ attention much. Most studies on tourism website translation do not even classify the type of website they are investigating. However, the distinctions between different kinds of tourism websites are significant. It’s urgent to classify the research objects for better dealing with their translation. Based on the intended functions, Pierini (2007: pp. 85-86) categorizes the tourism websites into informational, promotional, and commercial ones. Informational websites provide information on tourism; promotional websites operated by tourist boards promote a destination area; commercial websites operated by intermediaries put potential customers into contact with service providers such as tour operators and travel agencies; commercial websites operated by individual firms provide services in the sectors of accommodation, catering, transportation and attractions such as museums and parks. This view is echoed by many other scholars such as Zhou (2015). However, it is unconvincing to classify tourism websites based on their functions since solely one website can serve dual or multi functions. Another classification method may be more reasonable. According to Sulaiman (2013: p. 60), there are generally two categories of tourism websites based on the operators. One is websites of tourism authorities, and the other is websites of business entities. The former are operated by public sector organizations and government-linked private organizations, termed as Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) in the tourism industry to represent any organization at any level responsible for the marketing of a given destination. The latter are operated by business entities or private sector organizations such as specialist tour operators who sell travel to the destinations of the DMOs, and service providers who provide products like accommodation and recreational facilities. Generally, existing studies are centered on the websites of tourism authorities due to its reliability, authority, and typicality.
2.3. Previous Studies of Tourism Website Translation
Studies of tourism website translation can be generally divided into three branches. They are translation quality studies, translation theory application studies, and features of tourism website texts.
1) Translation Quality Studies
Existing related literature shows that the quality of tourism website translation is not satisfying (Pierini, 2007; He & Tao, 2010; Milton & Garbi, 2000; Sulaiman, 2013). The translation quality study usually includes a process of analyzing translation problems and errors, and then putting forward corresponding strategies, methods and techniques, mainly focusing on two levels: linguistic and cultural. Yuan (2018) discusses the translation of culture-loaded tourism texts on the websites from eight most famous tourist attractions in the city Shantou and advocates a “thick translation” method from the postcolonial perspective. Pierini (2007: p. 92) argues that TT of high quality is native-like, and written based on the genre style to achieve the intended persuasion effect without unintended side effects.
2) Translation Theory Application Studies
Studies of this kind occupy a large portion in this field. Many theories are applied in the tourism website translation practices. They are mainly Skopos Theory (i.e. Skopostheorie), eco-translatology and localization. Most scholars investigate the translation of tourism websites within the framework of the Skopos Theory advocating that translation is a purposeful and intentional act of human beings. It mainly follows three principles, namely skopos rule, coherence rule and fidelity rule, with the skopos put on the first top priority. Therefore, the purpose of the translation act determines the whole translation process, and the source text becomes one of the alternative offers of information for translators. Related studies mainly analyze the translation errors from linguistic, cultural and pragmatic perspectives. For example, Li & Yao (2018) take the translation of a Beijing official tourism website as a research object and discuss translation errors based on the Skopos Theory. It is found that in terms of the linguistic aspect, the TT fails to employ standard grammar, accurate words, and proper punctuation. Zou (2013) discusses translation errors based on the Skopos Theory and categorizes them into pragmalinguistic, sociopragmatic, and cultural ones. In addition, Skopos Theory has long been doubted or criticized for its offering of abusing power to the translators, resulting in loss of key information or retaining of unnecessary information in the TT. And therefore the debate on what is necessary information has attracted scholars’ attention. Li & Luo (2012) assert that basic information such as weather, transportation, opening hours, ticket, telephone, and foreign currency exchange is necessary while some overpraising information can be omitted. In terms of the omission or retaining of culture-related information in the TT, translators are supposed to follow three principles namely relevance, readability and universality. He & Tao (2010: p. 36) take a similar stance, arguing that the target text needs to offer readers the information concerned with location, area, facilities and features, and to play a role in recommending or persuading.
Eco-translatology was found by Hu Gengshen in 2001, arguing that it is the translator’s selection to adapt to the translation of the ecological environment (Hu, 2004: p. 87). Based on the approach of translation as adaptation and selection, eco-translatology focuses on threefold transformation that translators should pay attention to, including language, culture and communication. Many scholars have analyzed the tourism website translation based on the three-dimensional transformations. For example, Lin (2015a) asserts that in terms of the language transformation, translators are supposed to identify the differences between Chinese and English languages, make choices of words and adjust syntactic structures according to the target language readers’ cultural background and mindset. In terms of the culture transformation, translators must take the target readers’ cognition into consideration, and correctly judge before the translation, whether the readers understand the Chinese traditional culture and are able to deduce the implicit meaning. In terms of the communication transformation, translators need to deal with the ST according to the readers’ ideology, cognition and mindset.
Despite the recognized importance of localization within the marketing and e-commerce sectors, more attention is needed in the tourism area. The most frequently quoted definition of localization was released by the now defunct Localization Industry Standard Association (LISA): Localization involves taking a product and making it linguistically and culturally appropriate to the target locale (country/region and language) where it will be used and sold. It regards translation as one of the activities within the localization process and focuses on three aspects of language, content and culture, and technology. Language issues mainly concern user interface and document translation. Content and culture issues result from the fact that in many cases, the information and functions contained in a product require modifications to suit the local users. Technical issues mean that support for local languages and content may require redesign and engineering restructuring. A few scholars have investigated the tourism website translation based on the localization theory. For example, Zhou (2015) carries a study on translation standards of tourism websites based on the localization theory. Results show that the translation should: 1) achieve the same effect as the original, 2) conform to the browsing habits and culture of the target market consumers, 3) be readable in terms of language and typography, and 4) be redesigned to meet the needs of the target market. In addition to the existing emphasis on the text, a few scholars have focused on investigation into localization processes from the perspective of website operators. Mele and Cantoni (2017) carry an open-ended interview with the IT and marketing specialists from eleven ETC (European Travel Commission) NTOs (national tourism organizations) concerned with the adaptation practices and activities in the localization process. Results show that almost all interviewees report the use of localization strategies to adapt destination websites according to the needs and preferences of the specific key public.
3) Features of Tourism Website Texts
Features of tourism website texts vary a lot among languages. And before talking about texts, features of tourism websites will be discussed. Pierini (2007) describes the tourism website as a multisemiotic entity consisting of interactive resources, both verbal utterances and non-verbal signs, to fulfil a set of communicative purposes. Tourism website texts are interactive and flexible, adding even more challenges to their translation (Skibitska, 2013a), which is commonly regarded as an independent type of specialized translation (Skibitska, 2013b). Features of tourism websites can be summarized from their statements as multimodality, non-linearity and interactivity. Multimodality refers to its use of multiple verbal and non-verbal elements to better convey the information and achieve the communicative purposes. Non-linearity means that readers can freely click the hyperlinks to obtain the information they are interested in instead of reading in a determined order as most of the traditional tourism promotional materials feature. And interactivity is also due to the application of hyperlinks, by which the readers can get engaged in the process of browsing.
Plenty of scholars have conducted the translation-oriented studies on the features of tourism website texts. The research by Skibitska (2013b) shows that the quality of current tourism text translation is very poor. To improve the situation, measures should be taken to consider the website text, both verbal and non-verbal elements, outside the usual text features. Kacetl & Klímová (2015) analyze the collected tokens from Deutsche Welle video clips to find out the most frequent and important English vocabulary used within the tourism industry with the tool Sketch Engine. Results show that seven broad categories of nouns can be found. They are places, time, architecture, people, culture, food and drink, and numbers. Simón & María (2022) investigate the proportions and tendencies of frequently-used terms and the positive emotions in the tourism website language. Gandin (2013) looks into the discursive patterns and stylistic features characterizing the translated language of tourism by means of a comparable corpus methodology. Pierini (2007) distinguishes between discursive and linguistic features of English tourism discourse, defining discursive features as virtual orality, personalization, persuasive force and transactional dimension whereas linguistic features as light style, preference for a restricted range of morpho-syntactic forms, use of figures of speech, use of evaluative and superlative adjectives, use of nouns with positive connotations and restricted use of technical vocabulary. Sulaiman (2014a) also pays attention to translating style of tourism promotional discourse. Lin (2015b) makes a rhetoric comparison between Chinese and English tourism websites from the perspective of new rhetoric, which regards language as a symbolic resource inducing and persuading human beings to take action. Xing et al. (2017) carry out a comparative study of tourism texts on bilingual websites in Guangdong, Hongkong and Taiwan to analyze the translation errors of three websites in question from macro and micro perspectives in terms of layout, text structure, cultural norms and language expressions based on the existing conclusions on the features of English language. However, they ignore the distinct characteristics of tourism website English as a specialized language, which is quite different from the general one. And therefore, empirical research by means of parallel text (PT) analysis for example is needed. Yi et al. (2018) collect the introduction texts of the tourist attractions from official websites of 22 American heritages (PT) and 40 Chinese heritages (ST) to identify the differences between the source and target languages. Results show that the ST and the PT are varied in the beginning part, language use and the ending part. He and Tao (2010) adopt a PT analysis approach and find that pragmatic errors include the maintaining of useless information, omission or simplification of helpful information, and literal translation. Cultural errors include no reproduction or adaptation of culture-specific conventions. And linguistic errors include improper use of active voice or passive voice, improper wording, and misuse of singular and plural forms. Shang (2014) carries a thorough investigation into the British official tourism websites not only about language characteristics, but also interface designs to provide suggestions for the translation of Chinese tourism websites. Analysis of interface designs centers on the logo, alternative languages, and navigation bar. In regard to linguistic features, English tourism website texts feature frequent use of nouns, positive adjectives, alternate use of long and short sentences, frequent use of declarative and imperative sentences, much higher proportion of active voices than the passive ones, prominent subheading, use of first and second person, and use of multiple rhetorical devices.
Generally, research on features of tourism website texts has provided an empirical base for translation, even though their focuses are varied, most from discursive features to linguistic ones such as vocabulary, style, mood, voice, and rhetoric devices. According to Skibitska (2013b), “website translation covers the translation of all web pages including linguistic and non-linguistic elements”. However, most of the related studies focus on the analysis of verbal elements, without much attention to non-verbal elements which are supposed to be a part of the tourism website text, thus lacking a comprehensive analysis.
2.4. Previous Studies of Tourism Website Translation Based on the CCT Model
The Cultural-Conceptual Translation (CCT) model applies two key notions namely cultural conceptualisation from cultural linguistics and destination image from tourism studies. Cultural conceptualisation refers to “the culturally driven ways in which people conceptualise the world around them”, which is “inextricably linked to the invisible level of culture” (Sulaiman & Wilson, 2019: p. 55). Language represents culture and culture is revealed through language. Social groups in different cultural backgrounds conceptualise reality and construct meanings based on their historically determined practices. People with different language backgrounds may have different cultural conceptualisations. Destination image refers to “mental representation of a destination including impressions, perceptions, expectations, ideas, as well as feelings and emotions towards a place” (Sulaiman & Wilson, 2019: p. 57).
This model is mainly used to study the translation of TPMs, a collection of freely available media conducive to the sale of tourism products, including brochures, leaflets, flyers, postcardsand websites, etc., coming in a variety of formats ranging from print to online ones (Sulaiman & Wilson, 2019: p. 17). With the development of the Internet, more and more TPMs appear online. Effective translation of TPMs depends on the construction or reconstruction of favoured destination image, which in turn depends on the culture conceptualisation of target language readers. However, the low-quality translation of TPMs will lead to the distortion of a destination image, and one of the important reasons is that differences of cultural conceptualisation among different groups cannot be properly handled. Therefore, TPMs should be based on the cultural conceptualisation of different cultural groups as tourists.
TPMs are aimed at converting readers into tourists. A copywriter creates the ST in the source culture based on the purpose, by which the corresponding destination image is built. Finally the text and its constructed destination image are received by the audience in the source culture. Then a translation commissioner sends the ST to a translator. And based on the purpose, the translator produces the TT in the target culture, by which the corresponding destination image is built. Finally, the text and its constructed destination image are received by the target culture audience (Figure 1).
The CCT model mainly analyzes the differences between the source language culture and the target language culture in conceptualising three different aspects of tourism, namely landscapes, performancescapes and stylescapes. “Tourism landscapes deals with the tourist destination and focuses on the role of the attributes of the natural and urban landscapes or spaces in which tourism experiences (the product) take place. Tourism performancescapes deals with the tourist him/herself (the consumer) and focuses on the notion of tourist performance, practices and activities at the destination. Tourism stylescapes deals with how language is used and exploited to persuade the consumer to purchase the product. Unlike landscapes and performancescapes which deal primarily with the content of TPMs, stylescapes focuses on the communication style of TPMs” (Sulaiman & Wilson, 2019: p. 68).
A search for literature related to the CCT model in published academic articles shows that the model was first proposed in 2013 by Sulaiman (2013) in his doctoral dissertation titled Translating Tourism: A Cultural Journey Across Conceptual Spaces. Then the model was refined and supplemented from 2014 to
2018, during which Sulaiman mainly elaborated on the stylescapes (Sulaiman, 2014a), landscapes (Sulaiman, 2014b) and performancescapes (Sulaiman, 2016a) in published journal papers. In a paper entitled The Misunderstood Concept of Translation in Tourism Promotion (Sulaiman, 2016b), the notion of translation commissioner was elaborately discussed. In the paper Translating Tourism Promotional Materials: A Cultural Conceptual Model, Sulaiman and Wilson (2018) not only explained key concepts and mechanism of the CCT model, but also tested its reliability and validity (Sulaiman, 2018). Results showed that the clients were satisfied with the translation approaches and results and changed their views on translation. In 2019, Sulaiman and Wilson (2019) jointly published the monograph Translation and Tourism: Strategies for Effective Cross-Cultural Promotion, providing new ideas for translation of TPMs.
Jin and Xu (2020) believe that the CCT model provides a platform to make the translation of TPMs more concise and efficient. This model not only has a sound theoretical basis, but also a professional practice basis. They also call for applications of the CCT model to be extended to other language combinations, such as the combination of English and Chinese, as China has been leading global outbound tourism since 2012 and has become one of the world’s top five tourist destinations. Li et al. (2022) believe that as experts in tourism translation, Sulaiman and Wilson’s CCT model is conducive to the TPMs translation research.
2.5. Reviews on Previous Studies of Tourism Website Translation
As a whole, previous studies of tourism website translation center on three branches. They are translation quality studies, translation theory application studies, and features of tourism website texts. Translation theory application studies occupy a large portion in this field. Many translation theories are applied in the tourism website translation practices, mainly including Skopos Theory, eco-translatology and localization. And therefore, an insight into the CCT model helps to enrich studies in this field. In addition, most of the related studies analyze tourism website text from linguistic, culture, and pragmatic perspectives, which consequently separate the cultural factors from linguistic and pragmatic ones and have ignored the inherent relations and underlying influences of culture on other possible factors. Besides, the discussion of cultural factors in tourism website translation is not systematic and thorough, thus leading to culture’s failure to guide the specific translation practices from a macro perspective as it should do. In addition, most of the current studies investigate the verbal elements of the tourism websites, ignoring non-verbal elements such as pictures.
3. Theoretical Framework and Methods
Based on the CCT model, an analysis of the tourism website translation is carried out from three aspects: landscapes, performancescapes and stylescapes. Texts are collected from three websites based on the research objects: http://www.travelchina.org.cn/zh/index/index.shtml (hereinafter source text or ST) (Figure 2), http://www.travelchina.org.cn/en/index/index.shtml (hereinafter target text or TT) (Figure 3), and https://www.visittheusa.com/ (hereinafter parallel text or PT) (Figure 4). The ST website is the Chinese official tourism website mainly aimed at promoting Chinese tourism resources to the international community, well telling China’s stories, constructing China as a quality international tourist destination, attracting overseas tourists to China, and stimulating the vitality of China’s inbound tourism market. Chinese, English, French, Japanese, Korean, and Russian are available up to now, and the TT website is an English version of the ST website. However, the TT website is designed in a “once-for-all” way for global readers with their native language as English. After a look into many other tourism websites, it is found that even for one language like English, there are many its variants such as UK, Australia, Canada, and India Englishes. Considering the fact that the US people have much potential in China’s inbound tourism market and take up a large portion of the total English native speakers in number, the study is going to figure out how the TT performs among the US readers by comparing it with the PT website, which is an official tourism website of the US, and give several suggestions to tourism website translation based on the CCT model.
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Figure 2. Official tourism website of China or ST website (http://www.travelchina.org.cn/zh/index/index.shtml).
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Figure 3. English version of the ST website or TT website (http://www.travelchina.org.cn/en/index/index.shtml).
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Figure 4. Official tourism website of the US or PT website (https://www.visittheusa.com/).
Firstly, the study analyzes the ST in three aspects of tourism, namely landscapes, performancescapes, and stylescapes, so as to explore how the destination image is presented and how the destination utilizes culture-related themes to attract readers of the source language. Secondly, the PT will also be discussed from three aspects of tourism, namely landscapes, performancescapes, and stylescapes and compared to the ST to explore how TPMs are initially written in the target language to attract tourists in the target language. Six dimensions of culture, namely collectivism/individualism, restraint/indulgence, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, high/low context, and short/long term orientation will be discussed when analyzing what themes are presented and how those themes are presented. Finally, based on the results of the first two steps and an analysis of the TT, corresponding translation strategies will be given based on the CCT model.
4. Discussion
4.1. Cultural Differences between China and the US
4.1.1. Collectivism versus Individualism
China culture is highly collectivist, while the US culture is highly individualistic. In collectivist culture, people are integrated into a cohesive group, and emphasize group interests and needs, etc. They tend to follow social norms performed visibly or invisibly by people around. While in individualistic culture, ties between individuals are loose. People pay more attention to themselves in terms of needs, self-fulfillment, rights, freedom and so on (Hofstede et al., 2010: p. 92).
4.1.2. Restraint versus Indulgence
China is a culture of restraint, while the US is a culture of indulgence. People in a restraint culture tend to control desires and be regulated by strict social norms. While people in an indulgence culture tend to allow the needs and desires of enjoying life and having fun (Hofstede et al., 2010: p. 281).
4.1.3. Power Distance
Power distance refers to “the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally” (Hofstede et al., 2010: p. 61). China is a large-power-distance culture, in which people hold that the society is hierarchical and everyone should have their rightful place. While the US is a small-power-distance culture, in which people hold that inequality should be eliminated.
4.1.4. Uncertainty Avoidance
Uncertainty avoidance refers to “the extent to which the members of a culture feel threatened by ambiguous or unknown situations” (Hofstede et al., 2010: p. 191). The fact that China is in a high-uncertainty-avoidance culture, and the US is in a low-uncertainty-avoidance culture can be confirmed by many scholars (Meng, 2014; Du & Pei, 2011). In high-uncertainty-avoidance culture, people feel nervous about what is strange and dangerous. While in a low-uncertainty-avoidance culture, people show more tolerance to uncertainties and risks.
4.1.5. High versus Low Context
In high-context communication, most of the information is deduced from the context, and there is little explicit content in the information. In low-context communication, most information is explicit. China is a high-context culture, which is characterized by implicit and indirect expressions. While the US is a low-context culture, featuring explicit and direct expressions (Ye, 2013).
4.1.6. Short versus Long Term Orientation
China is a long-term-orientation culture emphasizing long-term planning and fostering virtues, especially perseverance and thrift for future rewards. While the US is a short-term-orientation culture paying more attention to immediate interests and values (Hofstede et al., 2010: p. 239).
4.2. Results
4.2.1. Translating Landscapes: From Restraint to Indulgence
Discussions on landscapes can be roughly divided into natural and urban ones. Generally, China has been regarded as a secular society in which people are attracted by the social, economic and cultural factors in the world and become indifferent to religion (Feng, 1999). Compared to the PT, the ST shows a secularization theme in describing natural landscapes. The frequently used word paradise in the PT is rarely used in the ST to describe the natural landscapes such as lucid water, peaceful and secluded mountains, and “sky filled with billowing clouds and red blaze”. This can result from the different conceptualisation of the paradise concept between China and the US. Though the word paradise with secular notion is not common in the ST, a metaphorical meaning of a perfect place for a particular activity or kind of person is used with careful handling like adding qualifiers around the word paradise (Example 1). Furthermore, when depicting the landscapes, the ST tends to focus on titled honors of the destination to highlight its value and status. This is consistent with the collectivist and large-power-distance culture of China. Chinese care about how people around perceive them and consider travel as an opportunity and a status symbol to preserve their prestige, especially after traveling to a well-known destination with plenty of titled honors.
Example 1 zhè lǐ suī rán qì hòu gān hàn hán lěng, què píng jiè dú yī wú èr de shēng tài jià zhí chéng wéi le tàn xiǎn zhě hé kē kǎo zhě de tiān táng. Although the climate here is dry and freezing, it still becomes paradise for explorers and researchers due to its unique ecological value.
On the contrary, paradise theme can be summarized based on an analysis of the natural landscapes depicted in the PT (Example 2). This is consistent with the findings from Hofstede et al. (2010: p. 176) that the US is a modern country relatively untouched by secularization. Besides the word paradise, the PT also employs non-verbal elements visually depicting blue skies, crystal water, lush green forests, wildflowers with vibrant colors, and sandy beaches (Figure 5).
Example 2 Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, a paradise shaped by glaciers thousands of years ago, embodies the wild spirit of Michigan with its 135-meter bluffs overlooking Lake Michigan. Sweet, small towns, bike trails and local fare await visitors to this pristine paradise.
Urban landscapes are mainly comprised of cities and attractions within cities which have been well-known around the world and embodied special meanings. The ST depicts most of the destination as time-honored, magnificent or imposing and filled with values, especially when mentioning ancient buildings (Example 3), quite different from the hedonism theme found in the PT. This can be explained by the fact that China is a long-term-orientation and restraint culture, in which people tend to foster virtues oriented toward future rewards and be regulated by social norms instead of focusing on the pursuit of immediate interests and values or freely satisfying needs and desires.
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Figure 5. Paradise theme depicted by non-verbal elements on the PT website.
Example 3 qián kūn wān jǐng qū jí guān guāng, xiū xián, dù jià, kē xué kǎo chá yú yī tǐ, jìng nèi zì rán jǐng guān qí tè, rén wén lì shǐ yōu jiǔ. Qiankun Bay Scenic Area integrates sightseeing, leisure, vacationing and scientific research activities. It has distinctive landscape and profound history and culture. qí dì diǎn fèn bù zhī guǎng, zuò huà nán dù zhī dà, huà miàn zhī xióng wěi zhuàng guān, wéi guó nèi wài hǎn jiàn, jù yǒu hěn qiáng de yì shù nèi hán hé zhòng yào de kǎo gǔ kē yán jià zhí. The distribution area of the paintings is wide and must have been incredibly difficult to undertake, making it an imposing spectacle. Such paintings are rarely seen domestically or abroad and boast strong artistic connotations and important value for archeological research.
In contrast, hedonism theme can be concluded from the analysis of the urban landscapes on the PT website (Example 4), which is consistent with the features of individualistic and indulgence culture, in which people are relatively free to satisfy basic, natural human desires related to the enjoyment of life and pleasure, especially for themselves. The short-term-orientation culture of the US also plays a role in the hedonism theme since people in this culture pay more attention to the present life and enjoyment, and are unwilling to sacrifice the present for the future.
Example 4 California offers an unparalleled range of unexpected “spoil yourself” experiences. Escape into bliss at a luxurious spa or a serene wellness retreat. Sip top vintages at elegant wineries. Slip into haute couture styles at Beverly Hills’ boutiques, or at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa. Take a VIP tour of movie back lots and top attractions. Savor meals created by Michelin-starred chefs, like Thomas Keller at The French Laundry in Yountville or Wolfgang Puck at Spago, in Los Angeles.
4.2.2. Translating Performancescapes: From Gazing to Doing
Discussion of performancescapes focuses on tourist performance concerned with tourist activities within a destination. Tourist activities can range from passive ones to active ones. Passive activities emphasize seeing and observing which require few or no skills and little physical energy, while active ones often require great skills and lots of physical energy. This section will analyze how the performancescapes are constructed in the ST and TT respectively to create a favored destination image for their respective target readers based on the cultural conceptualisation differences.
The leisure theme can be summarized based on an analysis of the ST, mainly divided into three sub-themes namely action, competence, and safety. The ST describes the destination as a relaxing place with attractive attributes and activities without consuming too much physical energy. Actions are presented by putting the destination in the central subject position to state what activities can be provided for the tourists instead of directly engaging the readers in the destination. This is achieved mainly by two strategies, namely subjectifying and objectifying (Sulaiman & Wilson, 2019: p. 133). The former can be found in such statements as “someplace is well-known for plenty of live performances”, while the latter stresses “someplace offers plenty of live performances”. The destination-based ST offers an objective and positive description and readers are at liberty deciding whether to be involved in or not. Also, to avoid direct connection between the physical actions and the readers, third person referencing such as yóu kè (meaning tourists or visitors) is widely used to indicate tourists in general instead of tourists in particular. Second referencing you rarely appears in the ST except in the form of nín (a honorific form of you in Chinese) usually followed by the word kě yǐ equivalent to the English modal verb like may or can or beginning with the word rú guǒ (meaning if), to mitigate the impulsion resulted from the use of imperative verbs and also show the politeness of Chinese people (Example 5). This can be explained by the fact that China is a large-power-distance culture, in which power is perceived unequally distributed. Tourists are valued a lot in the tourism industry, and they will feel a sense of superiority under a mild and respectful tone achieved by honorifics and modal verbs for example. More interestingly, the use of first person referencing wǒ men (meaning we or us) can be discovered occasionally, which is a significant feature of collectivist culture. People in a collectivist culture like China feel a strong collection with a cohesive group, and they often think in a “we” pattern. Generally, the sub-theme action reflects the current ST readers are in a destination-based travel who prefer gazing rather than doing.
Example 5 guān nèi yǒu zài xiàn dāng nián jūn duì zhù shǒu biān jiāng chǎng jǐng de biǎo yǎn, chéng lóu nèi de yǎn wǔ chǎng hái yǒu zá jì biǎo yǎn, gǔ chéng nèi hái kě yǐ kàn dào pí yǐng yǎn chū. Jiayu Pass holds performances recreating the frontier garrison drills of the past, acrobatics at the drill ground on the gate tower, and shadow puppetry inside the pass. yóu kèkě yǐ zài zhè lǐ cān guān yǐ xīn tān gǔ mín jū, xiá jiāng shí kè, xiá jiāng gǔ qiáo děng wéi zhòng diǎn de sān xiá gǔ mín jū qū. Touristscanvisit the Xintan ancient folk houses, Xiajiang rock inscriptions, and the Xiajiang ancient bridge in the Three Gorges ancient residential area. rú guǒnín xiǎng yào shēn dù yóu wán, nà me quán chéng xū yào huā fèi 18 tiān zuǒ yòu de shí jiān. Around 18 days are required if you really want to enjoy an in-depth tour. zài yáng guān bó wù guǎn lǐ, bīng qì yǔ nóng jù xiàng wǒ menzhǎn shì le dāng shí jiàng shì zhù shǒu biān jiāng de qíng jǐng. In the Yangguan Pass Museum, ancient weapons and farming tools offer us a glimpse of the life of troops stationed on the frontier.
In an analysis of the PT, a different way of presenting actions is found to create a favored destination image for the US audience. The description tends to establish a direct collection between the destination and the readers by frequent use of second person referencing you or your and tourists are pulled to carry out a series of actions through the use of consecutive imperative verbs to increase a sense of interactivity and activity (Example 6). This can be attributed to the fact that the US is a small-power-distance culture in which the power is perceived distributed equally and destination can communicate with the readers without deliberately designed honorifics. Besides, the preference for a more active tourism generated by imperative verbs is one of the key features of an individualistic culture. Generally, the sub-theme action reflects the current PT readers are in a reader-based travel who prefer doing rather than gazing.
Example 6 To complete your classics circuit, make sure you grab a bagel, a slice of pizza and an “I Heart NY” shirt, for good measure. Visit the red-sand desert of Monument Valley, see the picturesque sandstone buttes throughout the area, and learn about Navajo traditions, art and culture at the area’s archeological sites and cultural tours. In nearby Old Koloa Town, stop by the History Center to learn about the island’s sugar industry, drive down the eucalyptus tree tunnel, grab a treat at Koloa Shave Ice and pick up a souvenir. In Hanalei, take a ukulele lesson at Hanalei Strings, grab a Kauai grass-fed beef burger at Bubba’s, and visit the 1834 Wai’oli Hui’ia Church and the 1837 Waioli Mission House.
An analysis of the ST indicates that China TPMs incline to regard the target readers as average tourists without specialized competence, indicate the activities are available even for those who may not have the necessary skills, and encourage them to have a try. One way to present the competence is the wide use of positive verbs indicating few skills involved and without illustrating specific actions such as xīn shǎng (meaning enjoy), cān guān/yóu lǎn (meaning visit), tǐ yàn (meaning experience), liǎo jiě (meaning learn), and gǎn shòu (meaning feel) before which modal verbs such as can or may are applied to eliminate the sense of competence requiring and encourage a try from the tourists instead of presenting a must-implement task list for them (Example 7). This is consistent with the concept of saving face in the collectivist culture of China. Chinese care about how others within a community perceive them and are afraid to lose face due to failures in tourist activities for example. And therefore, if the activities are depicted as tough and skilled, the readers may be reluctant to try them.
Example 7 zhè lǐ de líng yuán jiàn zhù hóng wěi dà qì, diàn yǔ, shén dào, diāo sù děng jīng zhì zhuàng lì, líng mù nèi bù de zhuāng shì yě duō shē huá fù lì, yóu kè kě yǐ lái cǐ cān guān bìng liǎo jiě céng jīng de lì shǐ. The architecture of the mausoleums here is grand and imposing with exquisite shrines, spirit ways and sculptures. Luxurious decorations also adorn within the mausoleums. Tourists can visit here and learn history.
However, the PT employs the competence theme to depict the activities as challenging and skilled, through which tourists can realize self-fulfillment. The description of competence is realized through the use of competence-requiring verbs such as climb, hike, kayak, camp, and dive (Example 8). This can be attributed to the fact that the US is a low-uncertainty-avoidance culture, in which people dare to test their skills, expect challenges and appreciate the success in overcoming them. And therefore, another key factor, namely self-fulfillment in individualistic culture also plays a role.
Example 8 Climb the highest hilltops or explore the deepest depths beneath the surface of the earth. Hike the rugged coastline or the wooded Willamette National Forest. Camp in the desert near Steens Mountain, or explore the snow-capped Wallowa Mountains (also known as “Little Switzerland”). Kayak to the lighthouse, camp on the Greenstone Ridge Trail or dive one of several shipwrecks.
An analysis of the ST shows that the activities presented are relaxing and risk-free. This is consistent with the high-uncertainty-avoidance culture of China. While in the PT, the risk theme is selected, which is appealing, especially for tourists in individualistic and low-uncertainty-avoidance culture like the US. The theme is realized by the use of words like venture, adventure and adventurous and by describing dangerous or challenging activities (Example 9), indicating several associations with the energy-consuming actions and competence-requiring activities mentioned before. Another way to present the risk theme is concerned with “the other” such as local food and drinks (Example 10), which is special within one community while maybe unfamiliar or even queer to its outside audience. Finally, there’s also an emphasis on the pristine or remote attribute of a destination where those risk-themed activities take place (Example 2 & Example 11), which further increases the sense of challenge.
Example 9 You’ll find just about anything you could crave at the hotels and resorts in the Waikiki Beach area, but if you’d like to venture farther afield, try the busy and diverse neighborhood of Kalihi. Start your adventure in this UNESCO World Heritage Site with a visit to Bartlett Cove, where you can rent a sea kayak and paddle out to visit the beautiful McBride Glacier. As the weather warms, the San Juan River beckons with opportunities for trout fishing, whitewater rafting, tubing and kayaking, while the San Juan National Forest surrounding Pagosa Springs is full of trails for hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding and camping.
Example 10 Experiment with unusual flavors such as bacon, mustard and dirt, or keep it classic with one of over 70 root beer varieties on offer. A cultural tour of the area should also include a sampling of the New Orleans cuisine, made up of favorites like the po-boy sandwich, king cake, gumbo and the fried French pastry known as a beignet. Seek out markets serving the very-Hawaiian poké, cubes of seasoned, raw fish served with pickled vegetables. The Eugene, Cascades & Coast region of Oregon offers culinary adventures, an appreciation for local crafts and natural wonders to visitors looking for an unforgettable vacation.
Example 11 Explore its remote beauty through backcountry camping and hiking or get out your binoculars, as the birding is great here.
4.2.3. Translating Stlyescapes: From Representation to Conversation
In the first two sections, themes presented in the ST and the PT have been figured out, and in this section how those themes are presented, i.e. stylistic features or stylescapes in the CCT model, will be discussed.
Generally, the ST renders a declarative mood which is indirect and implicit with the rare and careful use of imperative verbs. Usually the verbs used are with positive meanings, indicate few skills involved and are without illustrating specific physical actions such as xīn shǎng (meaning enjoy), tǐ yàn (meaning experience), and gǎn shòu (meaning feel). It does help to eliminate any sense of restriction, demanding or energy consuming, and is consistent with the fact that Chinese are in a high-context culture who prefer general guides instead of specific instructions. Another way to achieve indirectness and implicitness is its emphasis on the destination instead of the readers by a shift from what the readers can do to what a destination owns or can provide, and a shift from the second person referencing (except its honorific forms) to the third person referencing. Finally, the use of modal verbs such as kě yǐ (meaning can or could) also plays a role in the indirect and implicit tone to mitigate the impulsion resulted from the use of imperative verbs and to indicate that tourists are free to make choices (Example 7).
In contrast, the PT as a whole sets a direct and explicit tone, trying to trigger active communication between the destination and the readers and putting the readers in a central position. Reader-based stylescapes of this kind are achieved by the use of dialogic discourse made up with imperative verbs and second person referencing to establish a close, equal, and friendly relationship between the destination and the readers (Example 6), which is typical of communication among people in low-context and small-power-distance culture such as the US.
5. Conclusion
An investigation into the TT shows that the translation is not satisfying since it has directly transferred almost all the themes and the way those themes are presented in the ST into the target language, ignoring the differences in cultural conceptualisation between the ST audience and the TT audience in terms of collectivism/individualism, restraint/indulgence, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, high/low context, and short/long term orientation aspects. And this study suggests adjustments be made in depicting landscapes, performancescapes, and stylescapes. When translating natural landscapes, paradise theme can be emphasized in the TT through both verbal and non-verbal elements. When translating urban landscapes, hedonism theme can be stressed in the TT. When translating performancescapes, adjustments can be made in terms of sub-themes, namely action, competence and risk. In terms of the action sub-theme, a shift from gazing to doing can be adopted. It includes establishing a direct collection between the destination and the readers by frequent use of second person referencing and pulling tourists to carry out a series of actions through the use of consecutive imperative verbs. In terms of the competence sub-theme, wide use of positive verbs indicating few skills involved and without illustrating specific actions can be replaced with the use of competence-requiring verbs such as climb, hike, kayak, camp, and dive to depict the activities as challenging and skilled, through which tourists can test their skills and realize self-fulfillment. In terms of the risk sub-theme, risk-free theme can be replaced with risk theme by employing words like venture, adventure and adventurous, describing activities as dangerous and challenging, or stressing “the other”. When translating stylescapes, an indirect and implicit tone can be transferred to a more direct and explicit one for activating communication between the destination and the readers. Also, dialogic discourse made up of imperative verbs and second person referencing can be used to put the readers in the center position and establish a close, equal, and friendly relationship between the destination and the readers.
Acknowledgements
We wish to acknowledge the following funding: Scientific Research Program funded by Xi’an International Studies University (Program No. 18XWD16). This scientific research program takes Chinese urban linguistic landscape as the research object, hoping to trace the cultural factors, historical context and ethnic relations behind the language use in urban public space. Therefore, the topic selected in this paper is consistent with the research content of the program. In addition, this paper provides a new theoretical perspective, that is the CCT model, for linguistic landscape studies in further program research. Last but not least, this paper selects tourism website text as the research object, indicating the trend of linguistic landscape studies from physical settings to the virtual environment, an embodiment of the program research keeping pace with the times.