Assessing the audio-visual environment at the Great Wall of China: Impacts on visitor satisfaction and restoration

Previous studies have highlighted the significant role of vision in human perception. In this study, we examined whether the assessment of the audio-visual environment at China's iconic Great Wall aligns with these findings to understand how this assessment influences visitor satisfaction and a sense of restoration. Using a field survey with 107 participants, an eight-variable structural equation model was used, encompassing sound sources (sounds of technology, human being and nature), the pleasantness and eventfulness of soundscape, visual assessment, visitor satisfaction, and the Short-version Revised Restoration Scale (SRRS). The results revealed that: (1) visual assessment acted as a partial mediator not only between soundscape assessment and visitor satisfaction, but also between the soundscape assessment and restoration. (2) The pleasantness of the soundscape positively correlated with both visitor satisfaction (β = 0.278, p = 0.004) and restoration (β = 0.244, p = 0.000), while human-generated sounds had a negative impact on soundscape pleasantness (β = -0.256, p = 0.019). (3) The combined visual and auditory assessments contributed 60.5 % and 39.5 % to visitor satisfaction and 42.1 % and 36.8 % to restoration, respectively, indicating that the soundscape assessment of the Great Wall was higher than expected and comparable to visual assessment.