The metaphor of sadness: Hakka's Bean Jelly as culture and consumption through tourism

This paper presents a sensory ethnography of an ethnic Hakka specialty known as ‘Luodai Bean Jelly’ (or the Sad Bean Jelly) in Luodai Ancient Town in the suburban area to the east of Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China. From the perspectives of objectivity, historicity, modernity and sociality, the metaphorical meanings of the Sad Bean Jelly as an ethnic food used for the transformation of a place through tourism are explored. Individual feelings and collective memories of the ethnic food are constructed in the context of tourism-driven commercialization, which is felt to have transformed the ancient town into a place for out-of-town visitors. The research sheds light on, and hence has implications for managing change of a place associated with ethnic culture, food and tourism.