Mind the Gap: Cultural Expression in Subway Advertisements and Passenger Perception—A Case Study of Changzhou, China

This dataset was collected in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, China, between April and July 2024, through semi-structured interviews with 31 participants, including local residents, tourists, metro staff, and advertisement designers. The data comprise anonymized interview transcripts, coding categories, and thematic classifications. Data were transcribed verbatim, anonymized, and processed using NVivo 15 software. This dataset can be reused for qualitative research on cultural communication, metro advertising strategies, passenger perception, and urban culture studies.