An Investigation into the Linguistic Landscape of Cultural Tourist Scenic Areas: A Case Study of Guandi Temple in Shanxi Province

Abstract

This study aims to investigate empirically the linguistic landscape of Guandi Temple, a 4A cultural tourist scenic area located in Shanxi Province in China. The study has found that most of the language signs use two or more languages, and only a small number of signs are in Chinese. Among the five languages that appear in the scenic area, including Chinese, English, French, Japanese and Korean, Chinese is the "preferred code", performing informative function, while English, French, Japanese and Korean belong to the "marginalized code", mainly performing symbolic function and highlighting the "internationalization and linguistic diversity". The study has also found that the most obvious differences are reflected in the language types and signage design. The "top-down" signs are set up by the scenic spots and the government, which show a strong bilingual and multilingual tendency, while the "bottom-up" signs are set up by individual businesses, which show a strong monolingual tendency. Moreover, from the perspective of sign designing, "top-down" signs are consistent and elegant, while "bottom-up" signs are diverse and crude. Three issues could be identified in the linguistic landscape construction, such as uneven quality of translations, non-standardized use of language, and lack of overall planning. Accordingly, it is suggested that the scenic area management authority should take into account the diversity of the tourists source countries; and local cultural elements should be integrated into the "top-down" signs. Lastly, the "bottom-up" signs should increase the number of languages other than Chinese to improve the service capacity so as to better utilize the economic value of the linguistic landscape and promote the Guan Gong culture to the world market.