Western studies on nature-based tourism have long explored the relationships among tourists’ sociodemographic characteristics, motivation and satisfaction as a way of predicting their visitation patterns and travel behaviours. Relatively few studies have been conducted in the Chinese context given its varied and extensive landscapes. This paper seeks to fill this gap using data from questionnaire surveys conducted in two popular and prestigious forest nature reserves in Guangdong province between August and December 2015. Data collected were analyzed by multiple regression tests with socio-demographic factors as the predictors of travel motivation and satisfaction in SPSS 24.0. The key findings and observations include the following: First, contrary to some overseas studies, education level was negatively correlated with tourists’ satisfaction with management and educational value. Second, age was positively correlated with the sense of relaxation and nature exploration. Third, education level had a negative correlation with motivation regarding social influence. Fourth, the influence of local culture helps differentiate Chinese tourists from Western tourists, implying that different management strategies should be adopted. All these findings offer insights to nature-based tourism operators that cater to the growing ranks of Chinese ecotourists.

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This study examines the changing urban form and its implications on sustainable transportation in Hong Kong. It begins by classifying the city into the traditional urban core, new growth, and rural areas. Like many other parts of the world, more and more people in Hong Kong have opted to live farther away from the core areas over the past few decades. What are the implications on people's travel behavior and, hence, the sustainability of the city's transportation system? The findings shed light on the implications of urban expansion on sustainable transportation, especially in Asian cities characterized by lower car ownership rates and more compact urban development.

Increasing visits to protected areas in China have drawn public attention on the negative impacts on ecologically sensitive areas. Understanding potential determinants of the environmentally responsible behavioral intention of nature-based tourists has become a common focus in tourism studies. Scholars seek to explore potential determinants of visitors’ behavior, and the findings can be referenced by the managers of protected areas to formulate visitor management strategies. On the basis of a sample of 402 questionnaires collected in protected areas in South China, namely, Nanling National Forest Park and Dinghu Mountain National Nature Reserve, we explore the association between visitors’ place attachment and their satisfaction and environmentally responsible behavioral intention. The results show that place dependence and place identity are positively correlated with the satisfaction and environmentally responsible behavioral intention of visitors; thus, our results differ from those of previous studies on Western visitors. The lack of significant results regarding place social bonding revealed the shortcomings associated with visitor management in China’s protected areas. Chinese culture has a great influence on various findings in this study. All of the findings provide significant insights for management and policy-making regarding protected areas worldwide to accommodate the rising number of nature-based visitors to China.