本研究的产生是基于在实现中华民族伟大复兴的时代背景下增进海外华裔儿童对祖国国家认同的必要性的现实背景,和相关领域对儿童的研究严重不足的理论背景。现有研究认为对儿童的研究是国家认同研究中不可或缺的部分，然而针对儿童这一群体国家认同的研究却屈指可数。本研究将在对人文地理学、旅游、国家认同、发展心理学、童年社会学等学科理论综述的基础上，通过深度访谈、参与式观察、小组访谈、问卷调查等方式收集数据，以居住在西方国家的处在童年时期的第二代华裔移民为例，了解其对祖国的地理想象和国家认同，以及返乡旅游过程中地理想象和国家认同的二次建构。研究成果将丰富地理学、旅游学，以及消费者行为学等学科的研究内容，并有一定的现实意义。

This study is inspired by the growing importance of including the traditionally muted voices of children in the academia as articulated in the literature of geography and sociology, as well as the recognition of the role diaspora tourism plays in enhancing China’s national identity among overseas Chinese children. Previous studies suggested children should be a salient part in the study of national identity but very few studies were conducted, especially in the area of geography. Grounded in the literature in human geography, tourism, national identity, development psychology, and sociology of childhood, and with data collected through participant observation, in-depth interview, focus group, and questionnaire survey, the study proposed is among the first attempts to understand the construction of national identity of overseas Chinese children growing up in western discourse. More specifically, the study intended to understand 1) their imaginary geographies of China as homeland and identification with China, and 2) how they negotiate, compromise, and re-construct the imagined geographies and identification with China during diaspora travel. It is expected the study findings will contribute to the existing body of literature in human geography, tourism, and consumer behavior.