The new normal of China's economic growth has profound impact on the development of regional tourism in china. Based on an analysis of the characteristics of the development of China's tourism industry, this article addresses the general trend of regional tourism development in the future, and puts forward a new approach to realize innovative regional tourism development. It shows that the tourism industry presents six main characteristics: (1) the tourism industry in China is expanding in scale but at the same time, services are becoming increasingly personalized. Characteristics and effects of a country of strong tourism attraction begin to appear; (2) cross-border, cross-industry enterprises gradually lead the development of tourism and plan the development at the global scale; (3) tourism is becoming an important industry and a comprehensive, coordinated development of regional tourism industry has become an important goal of regional economic development; (4) a high-quality workforce begins to form and the overall quality of services has gradually enhanced; (5) the Internet is transforming the tourism markets, enterprises, and business models, and changing the territory of traditional tourism industry; (6) "people-oriented" green development supports the construction of an "ecological culture." Correspondingly, tourism development is facilitating and being integrated into regional development strategies of China, including the development of tourism industry in central and western China, urban vacation and tourism development, the overall development of ecological cultural areas, regional tourism network development, and the development of innovative regional tourism management models. Under the "new normal" of China's economic growth, new strategies for China's regional tourism development should include constructing trans-regional tourism destinations, improving investment and innovation, realizing regional integrated governance, fostering the internationalization of business entities, and achieving integrated tourism risk prevention.
Studying urban social space by means of maps has a long history and diverse patterns of research have developed in different contexts. In recent years, along with the rapid development of GIS technology and Big Data, social data are becoming increasingly diversified and accurate, which offers the possibility for re-recognizing social spaces. This article examines the research of social atlas in China and abroad since the 1900s with regard to cartographic organization and methods and data, aiming for providing some guidance for future studies of social atlas in China. The map-based social research and applications evolved from the initial purpose of comprehensive description to thematic interpretation, and theoretical verification. With regard to cartographic method, the four main types are cartogram map, grid map, dot map, and density map. This article illustrates the effectiveness of social atlas study and reviews its applications in China. It stresses that social atlas, as an efficient method to present sociospatial relations, is able to describe the complicated spatial features of social elements, which is significant for understanding the social reality of a city under transition. However, research of social atlas in China is still in need of further development and greater attentions should be paid to such study in the future.
Geography of home is becoming an important research field in the western academic world. Both the quantity and the citation rate of the publications on this topic are growing significantly, in cultural geography study in particular. This article reviews the diverse literature on the geography of home and calls for domestic study in China in the context of great social and cultural transitions. First, the conceptualization of home was interpreted by tracing back in the literature. Home was treated as "heaven" in early research of the 1970s inspired by the humanistic trend at the time, while was criticized for its ignorance of the negative feelings and experiences of the subordinate groups. At present, this concept is understood increasingly as political and embedded with critical interpretations. The review found that the geography of home is closely related to identity, including gender, sexuality, class, and ethnicity. These identities shape and are shaped by home. Finally the article reviews studies on two key phenomena examined from the perspective of home: transnational migration and homelessness. These studies focus on the impacts of the wider economic and social contexts as well as related policies. More importantly, growing attention has been paid to the home making practice and the meanings of home experience of the migrants and the homeless people. Despite of the abundant research on the geography of home, such study in China is relatively rare although the idea of home occupies a key position in traditional cultures of China. Especially during the recent development of globalization and social transformation, the theory of home may be helpful to explain and interpret new topics that have emerged in China such as the growth of forced migration, flow of labor force, and empty nester family. The existing body of literature on the geography of home provides insightful ideas for related studies in China. However, empirical studies should be conducted in the context of China, which may enrich or challenge the theory of home.
Social spatial segregation is a concept of sociality and spatiality. Its measurement directly impacts the validity of the classification of segregation degrees. According to the different focuses of spatial segregation research through its development, the author divides social spatial segregation study into the following stages: the beginning from the 1950s to the 1970s; the multi-dimensional group assessment stage in the 1980s; switching to a spatial focus in the 1990s; multi-modeling and multi-perspective period in the 2000s to date. This review introduces the main features of different approaches, the social background against which the developments occurred, and the main measurement indices and models of each stage. Socio-spatial segregation research started relatively late in China. It can be divided into an early embryonic stage from the 1980s to the 1990s and the vigorous development stage from 2000 to present. Socio-spatial segregation research in China involved mostly empirical studies with aspatial measures of segregation, which cannot solve the modifiable areal unit problem beyond the census tract and thus made little theoretical contribution to the ongoing debates. Segregation research often used more traditional segregation indices, lacking multi-dimensional spatial-correction segregation methods. The papers reviewed were not based on previous research and cross-fertilization did not seem to occur. As a result, a unified paradigm has not appeared. The rapid development of mobile Internet and social network space in the past few years put forward new demands to the social spatial segregation calculation method. On the other hand, location-based personal behavioral data and virtual network-based cyberspace interactive data provide a new perspective for socio-spatial segregation study .
Satellite remote sensing is an important technique for cropland resources survey, while time series of remote sensing images, particularly, are of great practical significance for cropland extraction. Optical remote sensing imagery is largely affected by illumination and atmospheric conditions, which limits available satellite images within a year, especially where cloudy or rainy weather frequently occurs. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), on the other hand, is able to acquire data throughout the day under any weather condition. However, owing to the influence of speckle noise, very little work has been done to use SAR image time series for feature extraction. This study examines the applicability of SAR image time series for cropland extraction, and Xuzhou City in Jiangsu Province was chosen as the study area. A total of 11 ENVISAT ASAR images covering the study area and dated from December 2009 to December 2010 were selected to establish a SAR time series as experimental data. Thirty cropland sampling regions with the size of 5 pixels × 5 pixels were visually chosen to calculate the consistency of cropland backscatter signatures in the temporal domain, at both neighboring location (inside each sampling region) and remote location (beyond the sampling regions). Euclidean distance method, correlation method, and dynamic time warp (DTW) method were then adopted to extract cropland pixels in the study area. The experiment results show high backscattering consistency for neighboring cropland pixels, with a coefficient of variation of 9.96%. A lower but still satisfactory backscattering consistency was derived by remote cropland pixels in the study area, with a coefficient of variation of 15.27%. Despite the inherent speckle noises of SAR data, the general characteristics of time series for cropland backscatter coefficient correspond well with crop calendar. For the three selected methods, correlation method performed best, which produced a correctness of 86.25% and completeness of 80.70%. Euclidean method took the second place, with a correctness of 76.40% and a completeness of 71.93%. DTW achieved the lowest accuracy, with a correctness of 62.15% and completeness of 77.78%. This research shows that as a new data organizing form, time series of SAR images can be used for cropland extraction effectively.
Using the 3S (RS, GIS, GPS) technologies, quantitative analysis method of landscape patterns, and the 30 m resolution land use/land cover data, this study examines the spatiotemporal characteristics of land use/land cover change in the grassland restoration areas in China from 2000 to 2010. We apply two parameters land use transfer matrix and land use dynamic degree to explore the speed and regional differentiation of land use change. This study analyzes the characteristics of landscape patterns at the class and landscape levels in the study area and explores the ecological effect of land use pattern and regional ecological processes. The results show that: (1) Grassland, woodland, wetland, farmland, tificial surface, and others were the main landscape types in the study area in the past decade. The ecosystem structure was stable. About 0.37% of the total grassland area in 2000 experienced change in land use/land cover types. The area of woodlands, wetlands, farmlands, and tificial surface expanded. The area of "others" has declined. (2) The dynamic degree of regional land use was less than one percent in the recent ten years. The speed of land use and land cover change was low, and regional differentiation of change between the provinces was small. (3) The matrix of the landscape did not change in the study area. Landscape fragmentation index values decreased progressively; landscape diversity rose continuously; landscape aggregation and continuity decreased slightly; the landscape maintained relative integrity. The grassland restoration program implementation evidently improved the structure and stability of the land use / land cover.
：The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is a hotspot area for global climate change research and a key area for ecological protection in China. Land cover change research in this area can significantly contribute to optimizingland use pattern and improving ecological services and natural conditions of the region. Among various methods for land cover change detection, linear spectral unmixing (LSU) is an effective approach to monitor land cover change by using remote sensing technology. In this study, we chose Naidong County in Tibet as the study area and adopted the linear spectral unmixing technology to detect the ratio of vegetation, bare soil, and rock for each pixel of three Landsat TM/ETM images from 1988, 2000, and 2010. The vegetation component of the result was compared with NDVI. The results show that: (1) The study area has high proportion of mixed pixels, and LSU can deal with the complex features of land cover changes effectively. (2) The proportion of bare soil reduced evidently while rock and vegetation coverage increased from1988 to 2010. It proves that vegetation cover had recovered to some degree while rocky desertification expanded rapidly. (3) Through comparing the vegetation component with NDVI we conclude that LSU is applicable for the identification of land cover change of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
The Jiangsu muddy coastal zone is one of the key bases of cropland complementary resources in China. In 2009, the Chinese government approved the development plan of the Jiangsu coastal zone, wherein the tidal flat will be reclaimed and developed into new farmland. Potential land productivity in the coastal area can reflect its capacity to supply food for the country, and is the basis for maintaining the sustainability of the regional agricultural production. There exist various potential land productivity models in China and worldwide. Models based on the process of crop physiology and ecology were used at the field scale, such as the Crop-Environment Resource Synthesis System (CERES) and World Food Studies (WOFOST). Land productivity models based on light, temperature, precipitation, and soil properties—the Classification and Evaluation Techniques of Farmland and Evaluation System of Land Productivity (ESLP)—have been used in China. However, the soil validation coefficients in these two models are based on the evaluation of soil quality and did not consider the relationship between crop yields and soil properties. This article takes the reclamation zones in Rudong County, Jiangsu Province as a case study and attempts to improve the soil validation coefficient in potential land productivity models. It incorporates the percentage of soil fertility contribution (PSFC) and soil salinity factor as soil validation coefficients into the model of potential land productivity to reflect the quality of land. We used the field survey data on rice and wheat yields to verify the feasibility of the potential land productivity model in the coastal area of China. The results show that the PSFC of rice production in the Jiangsu coastal area was about 55%~59%. The PSFC of wheat production in the study area was 50%~80%. The rice and wheat production in the reclamation zones in 1951 and 1974 was not affected by soil salinity because the soils in these reclamation zones were not saline. The rice and wheat production in the reclamation zones in 1982 and 2007 were influenced by soil salinity. The salinity factors of rice and wheat production in the reclamation zones in 1982 were 0.73 and 1.00, respectively. The salinity factors of rice and wheat production in the reclamation zones in 2007 were 0 and 0.35. In 2007 the soil in the reclamation zone was no longer suitable for growing rice paddy. The rice and wheat potential productivity corrected by PSFC in the un-desalinized reclamation zones in 1982 were 12235.84 and 6502.23 kg/hm2. The rice and wheat potential productivity corrected by soil salinity in the un-desalinized reclamation zones in 1982 were 15677.42 and 10329.39 kg/hm2. The rice and wheat potential productivity corrected by PSFC and soil salinity in the un-desalinized reclamation zones in 1982 were 8934.97 and 6502.23 kg/hm2. The actual field yields of rice and wheat (9750 and 6000 kg/hm2) are consistent with the potential productivity corrected by PSFC and soil salinity, and is far less than the potential productivity corrected by soil salinity. Improved fertilization can increase land production. The result of this research can be useful for evaluating newly reclaimed farmland resources and for calculating crop production in the coastal reclamation zones.
Research on the timing, extent, and distribution of the late Quaternary glaciation in the East Asia monsoon area is very important for the discussion on the mechanism of the glacier development and global climate change. New absolute ages indicate that there were clear difference of the glacial advancement and retreat in and along the mountains and islands in East Asia, including on the Taiwan Island, in Japan, Hokkaido, Kaema Highlands, and Russian. However, the glacial history was strictly constrained by the last glacial cycle (LGC) corresponding to marine isotope stage (MIS) 4 and the glacial extent during the early stage of the LGC was larger than that of the late stage. Through comparing the characteristics of the glacial action in these mountains and islands, we confirmed the main influencing factors on the glacial development in the study area. The results show that climate, tectonic uplift, latitude, and the location away from the sea affected the onset of glaciation and glacier distribution and sequence in the East Asia monsoon area. According to these conclusions, it is not possible that glaciers advanced earlier than the LGC in the lower altitude mountains of East China.
As one of the core areas of origin of the Chinese civilization, Henan Province is an ideal place for Holocene environmental archaeological research. In the past two decades, the majority of studies of environmental archaeology in Henan Province focused on the environmental background analysis of the evolution of culture. A small number of these studies was on the impact of catastrophic events and human responses to climate change. Digital environmental archaeology also began to develop. But the region still lacks relevant research on high-resolution paleoenvironment reconstruction. Although great attention was paid to the research of environmental impacts on culture development, human responses to environment change and the environmental effects of past human activities were rarely examined. With the broader application of remote sensing, GIS, and other technologies and constant attention to landscape archaeology, archaeological site location modeling and quantitative studies of prehistoric human-nature relationship have become the focus of international environmental archaeology.
Palaeoflood hydrology, as an extended field of flood disaster research, has gained great achievements based on sedimentary records extracted from rivers. However, these river palaoeflood studies have limitations due to the short duration and incompleteness of sedimentary records. Lake sediments as a more efficient archive, however, often record a temporally complete palaeoflood sequence. This article reviews four most commonly applied methods to identify and reconstruct palaeofloods from lake sediments, that is, lithology and grain size, geochemical indicators, statistical analysis, and eliminating mass-movement from palaeoflood layers. Subsequently we explore the causal relationship between palaeofloods and change in continental scale atmospheric circulation and regional climate change. Finally, we discuss the prospects of several studies, including the physical mechanism of palaeoflood events and climate change, comparative study of lake palaeoflood records and regional river paleoflood records, and palaeoflood research in lakes, especially mountain lakes.
Geochemical elements of the lacustrine-swamp sediments are very sensitive to climate change. This study focused on the geochemical elements of the Dingnan Dahu swamp, Jiangxi Province and extracted three main component groups by using the principal component analysis method combined with related climate proxies, such as total organic carbon (TOC), organic carbon isotope (δ13Corg), median grain size (Md) and chemical index of alteration (CIA). Base on these element groups, we interpret how different geochemical elements respond to variant climate conditions and their behavior patterns. The result shows that the first principal component (PC1), includes the elements of Al2O3, TiO2, SiO2, Nb, Rb, Ga, Ba, S, and so on, indicates the weathering intensity of the lake basin; the second principal component (PC2), includes the elements of Co, Zr, and Hf, indicates hydrodynamic conditions of the Dingnan Dahu swamp; and the third principal component (PC3), includes the elements of Sc, Cu, U, and V, is heavily affected by the organic matter of the marshland. The curve of PC1 is similar to CIA, and higher loadings of PC1 suggests a warm and wet climate. The variation trends of PC2 and PC3 are similar to Md and TOC(and δ13Corg), respectively, and the higher loadings of PC2 and PC3 both suggest a cold and dry climate. The origin of this lacustrine deposit was mainly the local weathered products washed by surface runoff under the condition of warm and wet climate and strong chemical weathering. However, during the cold and dry periods, strong winter monsoon might have carried dust from local weathered products and deposited to the basin as well.
The ratio of the number of injured people to fatalities in earthquakes not only reflects the vulnerability of countries or regions in earthquakes, but also is useful for the estimation of injured people, which is of great importance for emergency rescue. The ratio of injured people to fatalities is often represented by a fixed number in existing research, but disparity of these ratios from different earthquakes is clear. By analyzing the correlation between the number of injured people in earthquakes and fatalities, this study establishes regression models using the injured people and fatalities data in China since 1989. The models are tested and used to predict the ratio of injured people to fatalities in earthquakes with different levels of fatalities. The results show that: (1) There is a significant positive correlation between the number of injured people and fatalities in earthquakes, not only for China, but also worldwide. (2) Power function can better reflect the relationship between the number of injured people in earthquakes and fatalities in China. Large fatalities are always accompanied by low ratio of injured people to fatalities. The models and the calculated ratio of injured people to fatalities in this article provide an alternative method to estimate the number of injured people in earthquakes.
：The distribution and transmission of natural focus diseases (NFDs) are closely related to the geographical environment. Further study on the relationship between geographical and environmental factors and distribution of NFDs is of great importance for the detection of natural foci and risk prediction of NFDs. Concentrated on the tick-borne diseases, this article provides an overview and analysis of the relationship between risk characteristics of NFDs and geographic and environmental factors, like soil, climate, vegetation and other man-made factors. Besides, this article has also summarized the detection methods of risk characteristics of NFDs, and the establishment and expression of risk prediction models. It points out the difficulties and research focus of current studies, and summarizes future research trends.
