English version
After completing the first round of the card game intervention, I gathered and organized the cultural symbols and points of tension that emerged from stakeholders’ open discussions. What I ended up with was more than just a “list of Chengdu elements”—it was a record of collective negotiation, showing how local culture is layered and contested in the public imagination when it comes to representing Chengdu’s identity.
Cultural Consensus
Across multiple rounds of play and debate, food emerged as the strongest point of agreement. A few elements, in particular, gained near-universal recognition:
- Hotpot: Almost no one objected to this symbol. Beyond being a meal, it represents social bonding and a way of life—a marker of Chengdu’s everyday liveliness and warmth.
- Teahouses: Seen as the ultimate symbol of slow living, teahouses carry the mood of “chill” and leisure.
Five participants identified the cultural symbols they felt best represent Chengdu’s local culture as: the panda, sweet water noodles (Tianshui Mian), Zhong dumplings (Zhong Shui Jiao), trendsetters at Taikoo Li, Kuanzhai Alley, and Sichuan cuisine (with the last two elements coming from the same participant). And the Chengdu local cultural elements they found the most difficult to understand, unfamiliar with, or disagreed with were: Hanfu（Chinese ancient clothes）, drag show bars, the Island Carnival, rock climbing around Chengdu, and fashion groups among the city’s elderly community.
Disputes and Challenges
But the discussion also revealed points of disagreement:
- Pandas: As Chengdu’s international calling card, pandas sparked debate. Locals often criticized them as a “tourist cliché,” disconnected from daily life.
- Mahjong: While undeniably region-specific, opinions split—some praised it as highly distinctive, others felt it was too on-the-nose and at risk of becoming a shallow stereotype if translated into fashion.
- Night markets: Some participants felt they reflected Chengdu’s nightlife, but more people questioned their lack of uniqueness, even pointing out that night markets are more representative of other cities.
These tensions highlight the blurry boundaries of Chengdu’s cultural identity: which symbols stem from lived local experience, and which are shaped more as external consumer tags?
Methodological Insights
The real value of this intervention wasn’t in producing a final answer, but in capturing the process of cultural negotiation. The card game created a democratic platform where participants could confirm, question, and reconstruct cultural meaning together.
From this, two clear threads began to emerge in Chengdu’s identity:
- Food and lifestyle → deeply tied to emotion and everyday life, forming strong identity resources.
- Tourist-friendly or generalized symbols → easy for outsiders to recognize, but sometimes oversimplified.
This insight reshaped the direction of my next stage of research. Building Chengdu’s fashion identity shouldn’t focus only on “heritage” or “crafts”—it must also tap into the cultural power of food and lifestyle.
Next, as planned, I’ll be running a comparative intervention with a group made up entirely of Chengdu locals. I’m curious: will the results shift, or will the same tensions resurface in new ways?
Chinese Version
完成第一轮卡牌游戏干预后，我收集并整理了 Stakeholders 在开放式讨论中生成的文化符号与争议点。这不仅是一份“成都元素清单”，更是一次集体协商的过程，展现了什么是可以代表成都身份的成都本土文化在公众认知中的层次与张力。
一致的共识
在多轮出牌与讨论中，食物获得了高度的认同，其中有几个元素获得了高度认同：
- 火锅：几乎无人反对，因其不仅是饮食，更是一种社交与生活方式的象征。它代表了成都人日常的“热闹”氛围。
- 茶馆：被视为慢生活的核心符号，承载着“chill”和“悠闲”的情绪氛围。
这两个符号在不同代际与职业背景的参与者中都能被快速接受，显示了其作为成都身份核心资产的稳定性。
五个参与者认为最能代表成都本土文化分别是熊猫、甜水面、钟水饺、太古里潮人、宽窄巷子、川菜（最后两个元素是一个人写了2个）。
而他们最不理解/陌生/不同意的成都本土文化元素是汉服、drag show bar、岛上嘉年华、成都周边攀岩、成都老年群体时尚团。
争议与挑战
- 熊猫：虽然是成都的国际名片，但在本地人的语境中常被批评为“旅游化符号”，并不能准确代表日常生活。
- 麻将：有人认为它具有极强的地域辨识度，也有人觉得它过于直白，转化为时尚时容易陷入符号化的陷阱。
- 夜市：部分人认为它体现了成都的夜生活，但更多人质疑其缺乏独特性，甚至指出夜市在其他城市更具代表性。
这些争议点揭示了成都文化身份中的模糊边界：哪些符号属于“本地真实经验”，哪些更多是“对外的消费标签”？
方法论启示
这次干预的价值不在于得到一个最终答案，而是捕捉了文化协商的动态过程。卡牌游戏提供了一个平等对话的平台，让参与者在互动中确认、质疑和重构他们的文化认知。这些结果让我看到了成都文化身份中两条清晰的线索：
- 饮食与生活方式 → 与情感、日常生活高度绑定，是强有力的身份资源。
- 旅游化与泛化的符号 → 容易被外界识别。
这一发现直接启发了我的后续研究：成都时尚身份的建构不仅要关注“非遗”与“工艺”，更不能忽视饮食与生活方式的文化力量。下一步，按计划我将把这些符号与全是成都人的group做对比intervention，想知道会有什么不同？
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