Psychology Research The Conception of Developing Regimen Travel in China

Psychology Research 11 (2013) 1838—658X
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Psychology Research
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The Conception of Developing Regimen Travel in China
Runhua MA, Jianguo WEI
School of Business, Ludong University, Yantai 264025, Shandong, P.R.China
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
Regimen tourism,
Regimen garden,
Study course,
Interest volunteer
It is necessary and possible to develop regimen tourism in China thanks to the long history of
Chinese regimen culture, its rich tourist resources and the change of tourists’ demands as
well. Through comparing and on-the-spot investigation methods, market position and theme
design are conducted in this paper on the basis of the study of the three major tourist
generating markets, which are the elderly market, the middle-aged intellectuals and the
foreign enterprise employees and overseas market. Chinese regimen tourism can be
positioned as “a new type of travel which can make people keep in good health and nurse
people's physical and mental health”. At the same time, three models of developing regimen
tourism, i.e. regimen garden, study course by traveling and volunteer of interest are put
forward so as to put up a basic frame for the development of regimen tourism in China.
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1 Introduction
Until present, few people have done much study on the theory of regimen tourism both at home and abroad. Thanks to its long
history, Chinese traditional regimen culture, especially traditional Chinese medicine regimen culture has recovered due to the
increasing number of people with sub-health and the urgent need for good health. Regimen tourism is a form of tourism, which well
combines part of Chinese traditional regimen culture with tourism so as to cultivate tourist's morality, improve their physical fitness,
and as well as to meet the people’s health needs and the demand for diversified and individualized travel. In addition, the theory of
regimen tourism is beneficial to popularizing regimen culture and improving the masses’ health condition. This form of travel has
distinct Chinese characteristics, strong national character, and rich cultural connotation. In the mean time, Chinese regimen travel is
in line with the world travel trend, it may take the leading position in China’s tourism industry as to become the national classic
tourist route.
2 An Overview of Regimen Tourism
2.1 The concept of regimen tourism
Health Preservation is the maintenance of life, also known as Feng-sheng, regimen, Daosheng. Huang Di Nei Jing, the earliest

Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected]
English edition copyright © ST. PLUM-BLOSSOM PRESS PTY LTD
DOI: 10.5503/J.PR.2013.11.014
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traditional Chinese medicine book in China, contains rich theory of regimen, which comes down in one continuous line with Yijing
and Taoist's philosophical thinking. Therefore, Chinese regimen culture boasts a long history, contains rich culture connotation and
far-reaching wisdom of regimen. Suwen-Elder naive theory, which is the beginning chapter of HuangDiNeiJing, puts forward the
general concept of regimen which says, “Some of persons in ancient times who master Dao, can adapt themselves to the turning of
Yin and Yang, fit themselves to Shushu, be moderate their eating and drinking, schedule their daily life, not work recklessly.
Therefore, they can get health in both their body and their spirit, and live through their natural lifespan” [1]. In addition, Huang Di Nei
Jing-Ling Shu-Ben Shen proposed, “The wise men can keep in good health by being suitable to the turning of winter and summer,
making emotion harmonious, avoiding excessive happy and anger, following Yin and Yang and getting their Gang and Rou
harmonious so that they would ward off the evil, and get longevity” [2]. So the book has marked the beginnings of the overall concept
of regimen that the harmony of the human and the environment as well as the body's own harmony (their own body, spirit, sentiment
will), is the basic principle which prevents disease and keeps in good health [3]. Thus, the daily life diet and so on must be
coordinated with the Yin-yang and natural changes in order to achieve physical and mental health and interpersonal relationship
harmony. What’s more, Huang Di Nei Jing-Suwen-Si ji tiao shen da lun states, “Wise men always give the preventive treatment
before a disease occurs and prevent a disturbance before it starts” [1]. This puts forward explicitly the significance of prevention
before people has not gotten sick and becomes the main idea of Chinese medicine regimen. This kind of regimen thought and
wisdom “preventive treatment of diseases” have provided the guiding principle about leisure and health care for those people who are
confronted with higher work pressure and heavy environmental pollution in the city.
Thus it can be seen that, regimen is one kind of preventive medicine, through the state of harmony between man and nature by
following Yin and Yang, free feeling aspiration, being moderate in eating and drinking under the theory that man is an integral part
of nature, and through appropriate movement to achieve the "preventive treatment of disease" and "preventing a disturbance until it
starts", the purpose is to prevent disease, prolong one's life, and propagate. The traditional regimen theory involves feeling and will
regimen, diet regimen, movement regimen (including Wuqinxi, Daoyin, Tuna, Taixi, Taijiquan, martial art etc.), environment
regimen and so on. As a type of tourism activity, regimen tourism is the complex of the course of a series of dynamic activities that
the tourist takes specific natural environment as carrier, and takes the theory of traditional Chinese medicine regimen as well as the
traditional culture as the instruction, relaxing the body and mind, adjusting to rest, preventing disease for the purpose and staying in
the destination as to reach a certain length. This kind of tourism activities is different from medical traveling for the purpose of
treating diseases and is also different from the leisure traveling, but a certain relation exists between them.
2.2 The types of regimen tourism
According as its close relationship with the tourism, tourist value, the feasibility of development, regimen tourism is divided into
Chinese medical health protection tourism, diet regimen tourism, Daoyin and martial arts (qigong and traditional Daoyin, taijiquan,
shaolinquan etc.) regimen tourism, environmental regimen tourism, sentiment regimen tourism and so on.
2.2.1 Chinese medicine regimen tourism
Chinese medicine regimen tourism project includes traditional Chinese medicine therapies such as the acupuncture and moxibustion,
massage, Guasha, manipulation, Baguan (scraping the patient's neck, chest or back for curing sunstroke) and so on, but also includes
sightseeing, experience in the traditional Chinese medicine planting base, the Chinese medicine hospital, the treatment centers for
prevention of diseases, and the Chinese medicine museum.
2.2.2 Diet regimen tourism
This type of regimen tourism means that the tourist gains the local characteristic diet or the foods which are suitable to themselves
according to his or her body constitution by the measure of Chinese medicines in order to keep in good health. The medical sage Sun
Simiao in the Tang Dynasty related dietotherapy specially in volume 26 of "Qian Jin Fang" which states, “reasonable diet is very
important in order to be in comfortable… It is also not enough to keep health if the suitability of food is not known…… Therefore,
the food can clean out unsuitability and make internal organs peaceful, spirit and will pleasing, so that the current of blood can be
smooth. If a doctor would treat the sick by adjusting the mixture of food, then he should be a good doctor. Therefore, a doctor should
know the cause of disease and adopt dietotherapy priority. When the measure of dietotherapy doesn’t work, the doctor may choose
the project by drugs therapy [4]. Obviously, the nutritional therapy also has the very important status in regimen culture.”
2.2.3 Daoyin and martial arts regimen tourism
We can set up studying classes in the headstream of the traditional Daoyin and martial arts to attract tourists to learn traditional
Daoyin techniques, martial arts and instruct the tourists to learn and practice regimen techniques. Wuqinxi created by Hua Tuo who
is Chinese ancient medical scientists is to imitate the movements of animals as a means of keeping fit, which is both ancient people’s
way to keep in good health, but also rudiment which the martial arts, body-building evolves now. Hua Tuo said that the human body
needs some exercise to keep health, but should avoid exhausting. While exercising, the Qi and blood circulates in the human body,
diseases go away, just as the pivot shaft is also immortal. So the immortals of ancient times set up Daoyin, imitating the action of
bear and owl, stretching the waist body, moving various joints, in order to obtain longevity. I have created one of Daoyin named
Wuqinxi [5]. He introduced that long-lived person in the ancient times adopted the method of health care and exercise such as
“Daoyin” to longevity. Further he emphasized the important effect of the exercise for human health care and prevention of diseases.
Obviously, he has placed exercise first place of regimen.
2.2.4 Environmental regimen tourism
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The Chinese traditional regimen theory stresses harmony between man and nature; people should comply with the changes of Yin
and Yang and the coming and going of winter and summer. Lao Zi also said that, “Person follows the earth, the earth follows the
heaven, the heaven follows Dao, Dao follows nature.” [6] The human should be together harmoniously with the nature. The traveling
itself is one kind of activity which is intimate with the nature. There are resources in China such as numerous forest parks, the coast
sand beach, the innumerable ancient villages, the religious Holy Land, the innumerable hot spring, the sanatorium. The surroundings
are excellent in these places, which is suitable for traveling development. But many tourism resources themselves have the value of
regimen. For example, travel can make people relaxed and happy and can call away grief. Besides, travel is conducive to curative
effect to patients with neurasthenia (nervosism), anaemia and migraine etc. In the plateau area illumination is rich and the climate is
dry, which have a therapeutic effect on the rheumatoid arthritis, asthma patients; In the mountain area air pollution is small, negative
ions quantity are many, which is advantageous (conducive) to the restoration of health for the patients with diabetes and allergic
rhinitis; Hot spring has the fine curative effect to arthritis, bronchitis, gastric disease, skin disease, nervosism etc. In addition, sand
therapy, mud therapy etc. are very beneficial to arousing (stimulating) and restoring the nerve function, as well as regulating the body
balance.
2.2.5 Sentiment will regimen tourism
This type of tourism mainly aims at the middle and old aged tourist, because they have strong interest in the Chinese non-material
cultural heritage, and are willing to do their own pygmy effort for China's non-material cultural heritage protection. Regimen tourism
responses to this tidal current, offering a non-material cultural heritage project for the main contents of the tourism project, to teach
them to learn some basic skills, understanding the meaning (connotation) of these projects. The most important thing is to develop
their interest to enables these middle-aged tourists to have a feeling of happiness, a sense of worthiness, ease emotions, so as to
achieve the purpose of preserving their health, which conforms to the type of the sentiment will regimen of the traditional regimen
culture, at the same time, the non-material cultural heritage protection into the city from rural areas into a city transform into that city
welcomes on self's own initiative the non-material cultural heritage to go into town. That is achieving two things at one stroke
(killing two birds with one stone).
3 The Market Potential of Regimen Tourism Development in China
In modern society, everyone is faced with severe competitive pressures, the accelerating of the rhythm of work and life, which makes
the situation of human health less optimistic. The proportion of the crowd with insomnia, depression, sub-health state is increasing,
but this situation is difficult to achieve significant change to rely solely on the medical and treatment means. If this situation can not
be alleviated and eliminated, it will not only lead to a variety of physiological and psychological diseases, but also increase the
community's reliance on medical resources and increase the burden on national health insurance. Along with the raise of the level of
living substance, people's health awareness is also further improved, and began to pay more attention to their physical and mental
health. The demand for all types of health care (regimen) is growing, the situation of human health is deteriorating, the pursuit of
health and the disposable income is increasing, together with the implementation of leave with pay system put forward new
requirements for tourism development. Tourists need one kind of tourism project that be able to enable them to get a thorough
physical and mental relaxation and enables their state of health to be improved. The combination of regimen and tourism is able to
satisfy this people's need exactly. The esthetics characteristic of tourism landscape can bring irreplaceable aesthetic enjoyment and
satisfaction for a person's mind. Tourism activities have significance such as exercising a person's body, widening person’s field of
vision, making people's mentality peaceful, edifying sentiment, and enabling a person to be cheerful. Itself is a kind of very good
methods of health preservation, and can achieve the magical medical function such as purifying emotion, adjusting psychology
environment. Combine tour with projects of regimen such as traditional Chinese medicine, food, martial art, etc, which make tourist's
body and mind relax under some kind of environment, relieve pressure, adjust to rest, so as to eliminate sub-healthy state in time.
In recent years, the world tourism market has changed from sightseeing tour to holidays. As for the citizens of most western
developed countries, the annual travelling abroad has become a way of life. The purpose of their travel is to obtain thorough physical
and mental relaxation and rest through the traveling and edify life temperament and interest. The change of the tourist’s needs
decides the tourist market’s change. The needs of the world's tourists is changing, China's tourism market should also have some
changes to adapt to the trend of tourism development in the world.
Chinese regimen tourism can satisfy people's pursuit of health, but also can develop the tourism project which is suitable to holidays.
Moreover, the national and cultural characteristic of this kind of traveling is obvious, also the connotation is rich, so the potential of
domestic and international tourist market development is huge.
3.1 The elderly market is major customer resource marketplaces of Chinese regimen tourism exploitation
A country with the proportion of older people more than 7% of the total population is to be defined as the old age type. At present,
many countries have become old-age country, moreover the proportion that the senior citizen accounted for the gross population is
still increasing. The elderly market expands unceasingly, which already becomes major characteristics of the development of world
tourist market in the future. This is also the case with our country, senior citizen's proportion is increasing. Along with the gradual
implementation of the policy of establishing the harmonious social in our country, the city retired elderly paying capacity strengthens
gradually and their plenty of leisure time, as well as the human life-span extension, the retired elderly are still in good health and
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have the desire to travel. At the same time, in the initial period of retirement the person's physical condition is being in a crucial
phase, if poor maintenance, there will be a downward trend. Both the older persons themselves and their children hope that they will
have continued health. Therefore, regimen tourism will meet the demand of the old-age market (accords with old age marketplace
need), so the silver market will become a major customer resource marketplace of Chinese regimen traveling development.
3.2 The middle-aged intellectuals and the foreign enterprise employees are important customer resource
market of Chinese regimen tourism development
In the market economy, strong competitive pressures, and frequent updating of knowledge and intense work make many intellectuals
and foreign employees into the condition of sub-health. Often they do not have a disease but they are exhausted physically and
mentally. They have the demand of relaxation and rest but do not want to spend the time or cannot find the appropriate way. As a
higher-income stratum in society, they have the demand to preserve their health and have corresponding economy bearing capability,
so they are also important customer resource market of Chinese regimen tourism.
3.3 Overseas market is potential customer resource market of Chinese regimen tourism
For most citizens in developed countries, touring is one kind of life style, it is an indispensable part of their daily life. But they have
been tired of climbing mountains and crossing rivers between each scenic spot, and they need a kind of travel which is ease free and
could also enable the body and mind to be recuperation. Regimen tourism bases on the tourists’ more longtime staying in the
destination, which can satisfy their demand for taking vacation, and might also enable them realize the desire such as leisure, relax,
well-being, building up health. Therefore, oversea market is the potential source markets of the development of Chinese regimen
tourism.
4 The Orientation and Subject Design of Chinese Regimen Tourism
Development
4.1 The importance of orientation and the market orientation of the development of Chinese regimen
tourism
Market orientation is to set up the characteristic and image of a product according to the degree of target market demand group’s
attention to the characteristic or attribute of the competitors’ product and combining with the business performance of a competitors’
products in existence on target market and this characteristic and image is transferred (passed on) to target market groups, thus a
certain marketplace location is established in target market [7]. Market orientation is completed well under the full investigation and
the research on target market and own situation regardless of being establishes enterprise's development targets to developing and
planning a project, otherwise, it will be very difficult to distinguish effectively with the competitor. A clear market orientation must
be set up in the development process of Chinese regimen tourism in order to establish their own style and character, attract the target
market and own stable customer resource.
At present, the vacation traveling has already become one kind of tidal current and trend of world tourism, it accords with the state of
people's lives and physical and psychological needs. Regimen tourism in the development process can learn from the successful
experiences of resorts to satisfy people’s needs of leisure and taking a holiday. However, regimen tourism must not fix position in
holiday village; otherwise, it will lose its own unique charm and style. In fact, the word “regimen tourism” itself has already made
the limits to this tourism project's market localization. Chinese regimen tourism can be positioned as “a new type of travel which can
make people keep in good health and nurse people's physical and mental health”, like this it may be distinguished with the holiday
village.
4.2 The importance of development subject and the development subject of Chinese regimen tourism
In addition to a clear market orientation, regimen tourism development in China must establish a distinct subject based on the
orientation. Because of the quality of the subject designs is directly related to the effects of tourism development. The subject must
be designed to highlight the characteristics of projects, differentiating from the usual environment of target market.
The orientation and the subject are related closely, they have coherence in connotation. The orientation makes the instruction for the
establishment of the goal and the plan design, but the subject may have the effect of propaganda and marketing. Tourism is not solely
to meet the demand of the market today, but should make the tidal current, guide tidal current. A travel agency in 1993 carried out
the activities that “Chinese Arctic scientific expedition on foot for the first time", which had incited patriotic enthusiasm of the
people all over the country because of good market orientation and subject design, which was a great success. The orientation and
subject should be in the union in the development process of Chinese regimen tourism. The public relation effect will be formed
through the certain medium channel to attract target market group. In the developing process, we can propose that “going to the
Chinese regimen garden to appreciate the Chinese nation's regimen technique (of keeping in good health)”. A sensational effect may
be created through propagandizing the national characteristic and the function of regimen tourism.
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5 The Development Pattern of Chinese Regimen Tourism
The development pattern of regimen tourism is an important factor that regimen tourism obtains success or not. The development
frame of place as well as enterprise should be established and the suitable development pattern should be chosen in line with the
principle of suiting measures to local conditions, combining with local tourist resources and market localization, as well as local
government's industrial policy and the industrial matching conditions.
5.1 The pattern of regimen garden
The pattern of regimen garden is based on natural environment resources such as the national forest parks, the religious Holy Land,
resorts as well as Chinese medicine resources such as Chinese medicine plants garden, hospitals and so on. It takes Chinese medicine
therapy as the main service content such as massage, acupuncture, medicated diet and so on as well as forest bathing, the hot spring
bath so that tourists are able to achieve the traveling goal of preventing and cure diseases. Regimen garden puts unified development
and chain-like management into practice within the whole nation, its business model will be introduced into the concept of
condominium apartment and time sharing. The condominium apartment is one kind of accommodation facilities that property right is
shared by many people. The individual who has bought the apartment element can put it into use or entrust the superintendent of
condominium apartment to rent to other people, but the property right person shares the profit. Another mode of business operation
of condominium apartment known as time division and multi-property rights or time sharing, namely, the investor invests to
construct the apartment, then other people may purchase some property right of the apartments according to time section, time can be
a week, a month, a year, five years or long. It is allowable to let out to others when the property right person is not being put it into
use [8]. The tourist can exchange usage with others after having bought certain time section of regimen garden. The pattern of regimen
garden mainly applies to Chinese medical health protection tourism, diet regimen tourism and environmental regimen tourism. About
the concrete operations pattern and the sales model of regimen garden the author will write another essay to elaborate.
5.2 The pattern of the class of studying by travelling
This is one kind of pattern which combines studying and touring. Thus regimen tourism is carried out through the way of studying
while travelling. Take Daoyin and the martial arts regimen tourism as the example, the class of studying by travelling may be
launched depending on local resources of place of origin or the dissemination place of the martial arts or the qigong to teach tourists
to build up health through studying corresponding martial arts or the Daoyin technique on the one hand, on the other hand enable the
tourist to be intimate with (close to) nature in the gap of study depending on local well-known mountains and rivers resource, and to
understand the theory basis of corresponding martial arts and the Daoyin technique, namely the theory basis of the harmony between
man and nature.
5.3 The pattern of interest volunteer
Taking advantage of people’s increasing interests in our country’s non-material cultural heritage, as well as the demand for
protection against non-material cultural heritage in China, development subject is developed according to tourists’ interest in
non-material cultural heritage in order to attract the urban middle and old-aged intellectuals who have retired to the locus of those
non-material cultural heritage to travel and learn through guiding them to participate in the movement of our country’s non-material
cultural heritage protection, as well as training their interests in these non-material cultural heritage. These non-material cultural
heritages can spread into cities through them, giving off vitality again in the contemporary society, which enables the retired
intellectuals to have a feeling of happiness, worthiness, spiritual recourse in old age, as to be beneficial to their physical and mental
health. But because these non-material cultural heritage mostly is the remaining of agricultural social culture, so it can be combined
with rural tourism, the tourism of interest in paper-cutting, the tourism of interest in local opera and so on.
6 Conclusion
China has the conditions to develop regimen tourism, and regimen tourism is also in line with the world traveling tendency. As long
as a thorough research and analysis are carried out on the target market groups and market orientation and the subject design are put
up accurately, and rational sales channels are adopted, regimen tourism can be flourishing in China.
The national one is the international one. Regimen tourism with Chinese characteristics can not only adapt to the development
situation of the tourism industry, create new traveling tidal current, and promote the development of tourism in China, but also can
urge many tourism projects with rich national characteristics appearing in the world. At the same time, the development of Chinese
regimen tourism can carry forward Chinese traditional culture, promote the development of the related cultural industries such as
Chinese medicine, diet, martial arts and so on as well as the protection of non-material cultural heritage and so on. It is more
important to disseminate traditional regimen culture through the development of regimen tourism, accomplish the transition from
individual regimen to the prevention of groups, and reach the purpose of regimen that "preventive treatment of disease" and
"preventing a disturbance until it starts", as to enhance the mass’s physical fitness.
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