“Listening to the South Gate”: Placemaking,Mediascape,and Tourism Diplomacy Seen Through a Band Performance in Xi’an

Abstract

This paper is an ethnography of nightly urban soundscape inscribed by “Listening to the South Gate,” a popular street band in Xi’an, China. Drawing upon theories of anthropology of music and cultural studies, it employs three-year participant observations and ethnographic fieldwork to explore how their sonic practices negotiate meanings across physical and digital spaces to achieve the purpose of cultural communication and tourism diplomacy. The analysis reveals that municipal authorities have strategically incorporated this musical phenomenon into urban development plans, transforming spontaneous street performances into curated spectacles. Through creating hybrid spaces blending historical narratives with contemporary digital interactivity, the band has reconfigured the South Gate into both a geo-cultural landmark and a viral social media destination. The new scenes they displayed amplify the appreciable significance of the place and reinforce the local identity, demonstrating street musicians’ evolving roles within platform urbanism in China.