Page 35 - JCAU-6-3

Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Multidimensional image of Guilin’s central space

Figure 10. Word frequency statistics chart based on travelogues. Source: Drawing by the authors

radial outward reduction trend, particularly noticeable process to remove irrelevant data, a word frequency
with the Jingjiang Palace and the Elephant Hill Scenic Area distribution table (Figure 10) and a word cloud map
situated on the west side of the Lijiang River. This trend (Figure 11) were generated. These visualizations serve to
is consistent with the spatial development sequence and reflect the main destinations and prevalent paths traversed
structure of the urban central space of Guilin, wherein by tourists within the urban central space of Guilin.
nodes closer to the center and with longer development The prominence of word frequency directly correlates
histories tend to exhibit higher cognitive frequencies. with the level of interest and significance attributed by
Moreover, considering administrative divisions, nodes tourists to particular images. Remarkably, over 90% of
with the highest cognition in DieCai, Qixing, Xiangshan,
and Xiufeng Districts include Guilinbei Railway Station, the words in the word frequency ranking of tourists’
Guilin University of Aerospace Technology, the Elephant itineraries pertained to recreation. Foremost among these,
Hill Scenic Area, and the Central Plaza, respectively. the Lijiang River ranked first in the word frequency table,
These nodes encompass categories such as traffic service, with a significantly higher frequency compared to other
cultural education, recreation, and commerce. The words, indicating the Lijiang River’s status as a paramount
variance in cognition preferences of the images across destination for the majority of tourists visiting Guilin.
districts underscores the diverse image perceptions held Following closely, the Elephant Hill Scenic Area, the Sun-
by individuals within each other. This observation further Moon Twin Towers, the East-West Lane, and the Duxiu
indicates that the zoning function of Guilin’s urban central Peak secured the second to fifth positions in terms of
space is nearly coordinated at this stage of development. frequency. Overall, the high-frequency words generally
corresponded to locations located within the old urban
3.3.2. Travelogue text analysis area of Guilin’s urban central space, primarily clustered
In this study, we combed through the travelogue articles around Zhongshan Middle Road. This pattern likely arises
about Guilin on Ctrip, a popular travel information website. from the pivotal role of Zhongshan Middle Road, serving
Through meticulous curation, travel notes that did not as the historical birthplace of Guilin city and the main road
align with the research objectives – including duplicates, in Guilin’s urban central space. Zhongshan Middle Road
those located outside the designated research area, and connects numerous important public spaces, thus serving
travel advertisements – were discarded. Subsequently, as the main pedestrian traffic channel within the area.
380 popular travelogue articles posted over nearly 5 years, 3.3.3. Findings from big data research
from April 2018 to April 2023, were selected for analysis.
Information pertaining to the paths and nodes frequented The Weibo geotagging statistics reveal a spatial structure
by tourists was extracted and subjected to analysis using of cognitive images within Guilin, characterized by
word frequency analysis software. Following the filtration the Elephant Hill Scenic Area serving as the core, with

Volume 6 Issue 3 (2024) 11 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.1032