Supporting Data for "Commodifying heritage, looking for authenticity"

The dataset is a file of the raw interview scripts with my interviewees during the fieldwork conducted between 2022.7.19 to 20227.24 in a Manchu ethnic tourism destination in northeast China. This thesis investigates how archetypes of Manchu culture and identity influence the presentation of Manchu ethnic tourism. It also explores how the people living and working in areas where Manchu ethnic tourism is a major industry, who will be known as ‘locals’, contribute to these archetypes through the analysis of a case study about a park promoting Manchu ethnic heritage located in a rural village. The major findings of this research were derived from evidence collected during two short research trips in 2019 and four weeks of fieldwork in 2020. Participant observation and interviews with the locals were conducted during the fieldwork and the collection and analysis of primary sources such as gazetteers, tour guide scripts, and local advertisements about local ethnic tourism development.