Constructing a virtual destination: Li Ziqi’s Chinese rural idyll on YouTube

This paper investigates the key elements of a rural idyll constructed collaboratively by YouTube influencer Li Ziqi and her global audience in order to provide insights on how the imaginaries of a virtual destination help viewers to experience a rural idyll through watching YouTube videos and its implications for rural tourism. We employed grounded theory analysis in analyzing viewer comments to identify several groups of themes that are linked to the theories of Shi Wai Tao Yuan and rural idyll. The paper discusses a rural idyll constructed online and its potential for developing the current system of rural tourism management.