Study on Multidimensional Perception of National Forest Village Landscape Based on Digital Footprint Support—Anhui Xidi Village as an Example

Abstract

National Forest Villages in China are village types with significant environmental resources and cultural landscapes that play a vital role in ecological conservation, tourism development, territorial planning, and other elements. Understanding tourists’ landscape perception preferences is important to the long-term development of their landscape systems. Using Xidi village from the second batch of National Forest Villages as a research case, we gathered the evaluation digital footprints of visitors to the village with Python (version 3.12.0) and then used the ROST CM6 software and the semantic network analysis method to sort out the general characteristics of visitors’ perceptions of the village’s landscape. Finally, we constructed a multidimensional landscape perception model by studying precise details of passengers’ views of Xidi village on four dimensions: natural landscape, humanistic landscape, landscape environmental atmosphere, and emotional state. The findings show that travelers’ perceptions of Xidi village’s landscape primarily focus on scenery, architecture, and culture, with the humanistic landscape having the strongest degree of perception, the landscape environment atmosphere having the middle degree of perception, and the natural landscape having a weaker degree of perception. Most travelers have positive emotions, and commercialization and homogenization are negative factors that trigger negative emotions. The optimization recommendations for Xidi village’s landscape system are then offered in light of the study’s findings.

1. Introduction

In the mid-to-late 20th century, landscape perception theory was proposed [1], which explores the process and results of people’s subjective analysis, perception, and evaluation of various landscape environments through their senses in the context of social and individual heterogeneity, and ultimately serves as a guideline for work related to landscape planning and design [2]. With the development of landscape perception theory, it has now become an important perspective for the contemporary landscape gardening discipline to assess landscape value [3], demand preference [4], planning and design [5], cultural heritage [6], social well-being [7], and other areas of research. Traditional landscape perception research relies heavily on qualitative and quantitative techniques like fieldwork and questionnaire surveys to advance its scientific understanding. [8]. However, there are also three major problems: (1) Narrow sample coverage. (2) Short research timeliness. (3) Object consciousness in the investigation process is overly limited by the main idea of the research formulator [9]. With the advent of the Web 3.0 era, the concept of a digital footprint has been put forward, which specifically refers to information such as log records, browsing history, emotional experience, and feedback stored on the server side of the user’s terminal equipment after the user has used Internet access [9,10]. Compared with the above three problems, the application of digital footprints has three major advantages: (1) Thanks to the popularization of mobile devices and social platforms, the huge amount and diversity of digital footprints can support the research to obtain more ideal sample data and a wider range of application scenarios [11]. (2) The data recording function of digital footprints has good spatial and temporal extensibility, which helps to construct highly dynamic research models under the integration of the ephemeral and co-temporal [11]. (3) Digital footprints uploaded through users’ spontaneous uploads are the most objective reflection of their emotional experience, which is more prominent in terms of autonomy, reliability, and richness [12].

Therefore, scholars domestically and abroad began to combine digital footprints with landscape perception research. Domestically, it mainly focuses on two aspects [9]: (1) Mathematical and statistical research. That is the collection of network text and images and other active digital footprints to carry out semantic and frequency analysis to acquire the perceptual imagery of the research area’s landscape, customer satisfaction, behavioral preferences, and other distinctive indicators. For example, Zhang Rui and other authors explored the structure and evaluation of travelers’ experience elements in Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden with a comprehensive analysis of online text data [13]. With the help of image mining and content recognition of network photos, Ma Xuejie and other authors explored the differences in travelers’ perceptual imagery and preferences for different landscape types in lake parks [14]. (2) Spatial characterization study. That is, the spatial perception of travelers in the study area is integrated with the support of digital footprints, and the spatial structure, recreationist preferences, and landscape spatial value assessment are discussed based on this. For example, Zhou Xiang and other authors analyzed the spatial structure and node function of urban recreation networks based on online travelogues and evaluation texts, combining the four indicators of density, agglomeration, centrality, and core-edge characteristics [9]. Wu Jing and other authors used microblog and POI data as the basis, combined with the kernel density estimation method and the weighted average method to measure the spatial fit between the check-in points of microblog users and the distribution of facility points of interest in the blue space of Wuhan, to evaluate the spatial value potential of Wuhan’s color-blue space [15]. As far as foreign countries are concerned, they also focus on the application of active digital footprints, which mainly focus on four aspects: (1) Landscape perception, visualization, and evaluation. For example, Alexander Dunkel uses the Flickr platform to collect web photos containing geographic information and visualize the assessed value of landscape perception after analysis [16]. (2) Spatial structure and interest preferences. For example, Krzysztof Janowicz and other authors identified urban areas of interest in six cities around the world through social media data and discussed their spatio-temporal dynamic characteristics [17]. (3) Landscape perception, characterization, and planning decisions. Using social media data to uncover the features of the public’s perceptions and preferences for landscape environments, Martina Bubalo et al. conducted a systematic analysis of the application of geographic information crowdsourcing data for public participation in landscape planning. They also investigated the objective factors affecting landscape planning and management in terms of the aesthetic form of landscapes and the cultural value of landscapes. Additionally, it highlights how crucial social media and public involvement are to the decision-making process for landscape design [18]. (4) Perception analysis of cultural ecosystems. Using user-submitted photos from Flickr, Panoramio, and Geograph as a source of research data, Gianfranco Gliozzo et al. examined the significant contributions made by these internet platforms to the study of cultural ecosystems. The attention to natural and cultural aspects in urban and non-urban places is demonstrated by the examination of the many behavioral traits represented in the different kinds of images on the platforms [19]. Overall, the research on the combination of landscape perception and digital footprint has been carried out in an orderly manner, domestically and abroad, involving the dimensions of villages and towns [20], cities [21], blue–green spaces [22], and historical and cultural landscapes [23,24], and is more consistent in the source of the research data and the methodology of the research carried out, but there are some differences in the specific direction of the research in China and abroad. First of all, researchers in China have observed a shift from examining a single type of digital footprint to examining multiple types of digital footprints simultaneously. However, the majority of these analyses concentrate on the features of travelers’ preferred landscapes and the distribution patterns across space and time, neglecting to delve deeper into the social significance of the landscape. Nonetheless, there remains room for growth in terms of new approaches, targets, and objectives. Second, overseas researchers have superior research techniques, research direction, and research depth than domestic researchers since the usage of digital footprints began earlier in other nations. Apart from fundamental perceptual preferences and studies of spatial structure characterization, they have also explored social factors, including the preservation of cultural sites and ecosystems, landscape planning techniques, landscape management, and so forth. Travelers’ requirements and the landscape experience can still be furthered, nevertheless.

National Forest Villages are products under the guidance of China’s rural revitalization strategy and the concept of ecological civilization construction, which are village types with important agroforestry environmental resources and regional cultural landscapes [25]. They play a key role in ecological and environmental protection, village revitalization and development, social and cultural identity, recreation and tourism industry development, and land resource planning [26]. The study, organization, and planning of National Forest Villages from a micro viewpoint are currently lacking in research, which instead concentrates on the distribution pattern [27], spatial structure [28], and feature type [29] at the macro level. Based on this problem, the study of the landscape perception of travelers supported by digital footprints is introduced into National Forest Villages with two innovations: (1) The current research on landscape perception, digital footprints, or a combination of the two has not yet been involved in the field of the National Forest Villages, which can be regarded as an innovation in the object of research. (2) Based on the current state of research on National Forest Villages, it can be regarded as a supplement to the field and the introduction of new perspectives. In addition, based on the results of the study on the multi-dimensional perception of the National Forest Villages landscape by travelers, we can objectively recognize the existing strengths and weaknesses of the landscape system, which will help us to put forward countermeasures and suggestions to solve the corresponding problems and continue to deepen the positive effects of the National Forest Villages in China’s development strategy and public social well-being.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Overview of Research Subjects

A composite system having the qualities of wholeness, correlation, dynamics, and multi-scale that arise from the interaction and reaction of natural, social, cultural, and other landscape components within a given region is called a landscape system [30]. Numerous landscape types, including urban green space landscapes, rural landscapes, ecological landscapes, and cultural landscapes, have been the subject of much domestic and international research. The conceptual notion of a landscape system also demonstrates a diverse trend based on many sorts of landscapes. Xidi village, located in Yixian County, Anhui Province, Xidi Town, was constructed during the Northern Song Dynasty. The entire area was “surrounded by mountains on all sides, three streams, three streets for the frame” spatial pattern, encompassing a brilliant natural and historical human landscape. Xidi village is a well-known historical and cultural village in China, one of China’s traditional villages, and one of the country’s National Key Villages of Rural Tourism and National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units. In 2019, the National Forest and Grassland Bureau added Xidi village to its list of national forest villages. The village is classified under the category of cultural landscapes (Figure 1).

A cultural landscape system is described by Wang Fang et al. as a network system consisting of important nodes, their surroundings, and their linkages that convey cultural, historical, scientific, artistic, and other qualities within a certain region [31]. According to Xu Honggang et al., the cultural landscape system is represented by both non-material elements, like national spirit, traditional practices and lifestyles, and a humanistic environment, in addition to material elements, like architecture and vegetation [32]. According to Sauer’s theory presented in The Morphology of Landscape, a cultural landscape system is the culmination of the natural and human elements that have shaped a certain area throughout time [33]. Open, built, and cultural landscapes are the three primary categories into which Naveh divided landscape systems. These categories include, among many other things, natural, semi-natural, semi-agricultural, agricultural, rural, peri-urban, and urban–industrial landscapes [34]. According to ICOMOS, the cultural landscape system has significant values of both nature and mankind, and it encompasses the region’s abundant natural and human resources [35]. This paper, which summarizes the previous research, makes the case that the region’s natural and humanistic features can be collectively referred to as the cultural landscape system. This includes the emotional imagery that people create of these features based on their own aesthetic and cultural backgrounds. At the natural level, Xidi village is close to Yanshan National Forest Park, with an ecological landscape system integrating mountains, rivers, forests, grasslands, farmlands, and water systems, and the overall forest coverage rate is as high as 77%. At the humanistic level, Xidi village has a cultural landscape system that integrates architecture, gardens, and non-heritage, and it is known as “China’s Ming and Qing Dynasty Residential Museum” due to its lengthy history. Its harmonious symbiosis of nature and humanity not only serves as an excellent carrier for landscape perception research but also explains the connotation of National Forest Villages as one of the typical representatives of National Forest Villages. In addition, as a popular tourist destination, the digital footprints related to the landscape of Xidi village have significantly accumulated; these contain the multi-dimensional perception of the landscape system by travelers and can make the study more scientific and effective. Therefore, using Xidi village as a research case will be convincing and valuable.

2.2. Data Collection and Pre-Processing

Active digital footprints, mainly including text and image types, have become the main object of landscape perception research due to their comprehensive features of wide access, richness, and authenticity. Compared with image-based digital footprints, text-based digital footprints can most intuitively interpret the perceptual content of travelers, avoiding the complex semantic segmentation and feature recognition processing of images. Based on the above advantages, this study takes text-based digital footprints as the support, uses Ctrip.com, one of the leading life service platforms in China, as the data source, and uses a crawler program based on a Python algorithm to collect 2948 pieces of travelers’ evaluation text data involving Xidi village as of 19 August 2023. To ensure that the rationality of the data and the landscape-centered research scope are not deviated, this paper implements the necessary pre-processing of the data. The specific operational steps are as follows: (1) Data content screening. Three types of data, namely, complete duplication of content, complete irrelevance to the landscape system of Xidi village, and lack of textual content that only contains pictures, are eliminated. (2) Based on this, the second round of elimination of quantifiers, prepositions, auxiliaries and other interfering lexemes, and emoticons is carried out, and the punctuation is reasonably replaced without distorting the original expression to ensure the smoothness of the semantics. (3) After the second round of elimination, the data were examined for correctness and legality, and traditional Chinese and foreign language texts were converted into simplified Chinese texts to finally integrate an effective database that fits the study.

After data preprocessing based on the above steps, 1730 valid data matching the needs of the study were obtained, the total word length was simplified from 140,515 words to 82,870 words, and the valid database was saved for the next step.

2.3. Research Methodology and Ideas

First, the correct database was transformed into text content in the txt format and examined for lexical combination characteristics. Then, a few extremely popular special words were added to the lexical lists provided by the ROST CM6 program as the foundation for semantic characterization. After integrating the valid database and the lexical list into the semantic and high-frequency feature word recognition function of ROST CM6 software, the software automatically splits the text content in the valid database according to the lexical list and counts the frequency of each word to identify the top-ranked high-frequency feature words. The high-frequency feature words with the same lexical meaning but different expressions were integrated, and the related high-frequency feature word lists and semantic network analysis diagrams were drawn using NetDraw software (version 2.1), which resulted in the overall situation of the travelers’ perceived imagery of the Xidi village landscape.

Second, based on the frequency of high-frequency feature words in the high-frequency feature word list and the level in the semantic network analysis diagram, the important concepts of travelers’ landscape perception of Xidi village were extracted as the secondary level of the landscape multidimensional perception model, and the secondary level was summarized based on the existing studies and realities of the development of the landscape perception indexes, both at home and abroad, to construct the main level of the landscape multidimensional perception model.

Next, the frequency of occurrence of each main and sub-level category was counted. The weight of each main level was calculated by dividing the total frequency of occurrence of all high-frequency feature words in each main level by the total frequency of occurrence of all high-frequency feature words in the list of high-frequency feature words. The weight of the content of each sub-level was calculated by dividing the frequency of occurrence of high-frequency feature words in each sub-level with the total frequency of occurrence of all high-frequency feature words in the corresponding main level. The authenticity feature analysis of the recreationist’s perception of Xidi village’s landscape unfolded based on the weighting situation of the main level and the sub-levels. Ultimately, by analyzing the aforementioned study findings, it was possible to identify the benefits and drawbacks of the Xidi village landscape system and develop a strategy for improvement (Figure 2).

3. Research Findings and Analysis

3.1. Characterization of High-Frequency Words for Landscape Perception

3.1.1. Word Frequency and Word Class Characterization

It has been shown that, as the most profound emotional reflection of travelers on the evaluation site, the frequency of the words used is closely related to the local identity and experience feelings [36]. Therefore, the refinement and analysis of high-frequency words can help to systematically understand the perceptions of travelers of the landscape system of Xidi village. Firstly, we formulated a lexicon based on the lexical features of the valid database, imported it into ROST CM6 software for high-frequency word extraction, and summarized the top 120 high-frequency words of landscape perception in

Table 1. Ranking of the top 120 high-frequency words.

Serial Number	High-Frequency Word	Frequency	Weight	Serial Number	High-Frequency Word	Frequency	Weight	Serial Number	High-Frequency Word	Frequency	Weight	Serial Number	High-Frequency Word	Frequency	Weight
1	Xidi village	1072	0.1015	31	Suitability	93	0.0088	61	China	47	0.0044	91	Cleanly	26	0.0025
2	Huizhou Architecture	710	0.0672	32	Stream	93	0.0088	62	Peach Blossom Garden	46	0.0043	92	Complete	26	0.0025
3	Hongcun	559	0.0529	33	Stone Carving	85	0.0080	63	Photo shoot	46	0.0043	93	Good reputation	26	0.0025
4	Villages	501	0.0474	34	Experience	82	0.0078	64	Tickets	44	0.0042	94	Northern Song Dynasty	25	0.0024
5	Worthwhile	368	0.0348	35	Fun	82	0.0078	65	House	44	0.0042	95	Student	25	0.0024
6	Landscape	359	0.0340	36	Wood Carving	81	0.0077	66	Cozy	44	0.0042	96	Modern	25	0.0024
7	Culture	238	0.0230	37	Anhui	81	0.0077	67	Travel	43	0.0041	97	Jiangnan	25	0.0024
8	Commercialization	202	0.0191	38	Style	80	0.0076	68	Beautiful	43	0.0041	98	Couplets	25	0.0024
9	Night	170	0.0161	39	Interesting	77	0.0073	69	Preservation	43	0.0041	99	Original flavor	25	0.0024
10	Historical	168	0.0160	40	Guided tour	74	0.0070	70	Old house	43	0.0041	100	Beautiful Environment	24	0.0023
11	Residential	152	0.0144	41	Night view	68	0.0064	71	Ancestral Hall	41	0.0039	101	Small Bridge and Flowing Water	24	0.0023
12	Quietness	152	0.0144	42	Brick carving	68	0.0064	72	Water Screen Movie	41	0.0039	102	Treasure house	23	0.0021
13	Beautiful	148	0.0140	43	Environment	67	0.0063	73	Elegant	41	0.0039	103	High wall	23	0.0021
14	Scenic	143	0.0135	44	Stone road	64	0.0061	74	Ming and Qing Dynasty	39	0.0037	104	Convenient	23	0.0021
15	Light Show	132	0.0125	45	Cost-performance	64	0.0061	75	Folk style	38	0.0036	105	Colorful	23	0.0021
16	Overall	128	0.0121	46	Humanities	64	0.0061	76	Exquisite	37	0.0035	106	Leisure	22	0.0020
17	Huizhou	125	0.0118	47	Cultural heritage	63	0.0059	77	Play	37	0.0035	107	Idyllic	22	0.0020
18	Typical	125	0.0118	48	Black Tiles and Decorated Eaves	61	0.0058	78	Villagers	37	0.0035	108	Fresh air	21	0.0019
19	Breath	124	0.0117	49	Profound	61	0.0058	79	History	36	0.0034	109	Panorama	21	0.0019
20	Streets and Alleys	118	0.0112	50	Artistic	60	0.0056	80	Layout	36	0.0034	110	Atmosphere	20	0.0018
21	ancient Color and aroma	115	0.0110	51	Pink Walls	58	0.0055	81	Visiting	35	0.0033	111	Relaxation	19	0.0017
22	Characteristic	115	0.0110	52	Travelers	58	0.0055	82	Ancient	34	0.0032	112	Hu Wenguang	19	0.0017
23	Attractions	112	0.0106	53	Ecological	57	0.0054	83	Horsehead wall	33	0.0031	113	Design	19	0.0017
24	Huizhou style	112	0.0106	54	Not too big	52	0.0049	84	Atmosphere	33	0.0031	114	Leisurely	19	0.0017
25	Ancient Town	111	0.0105	55	Rapeseed Flowers	51	0.0048	85	Located at the	32	0.0030	115	Sculpture	19	0.0017
26	Archway	110	0.0104	56	Musical Fountain	51	0.0048	86	The entrance to the village	32	0.0030	116	Tradition	18	0.0015
27	Well-preserved	107	0.0101	57	Beautiful	50	0.0047	87	Daytime	29	0.0027	117	Museum of Ancient Houses of the Ming and Qing Dynasties	18	0.0015
28	Unpretentious	106	0.0100	58	Observation Deck	49	0.0046	88	Mingjing Lake	29	0.0027	118	Wooden Structure	18	0.0015
29	Scenery	102	0.0097	59	Sketching	48	0.0045	89	Taste	27	0.0026	119	Staggered	18	0.0015
30	Heritage	94	0.0089	60	Explanation	48	0.0045	90	Beginning of construction	27	0.0026	120	Lotus Pond	14	0.0003

after integrating the synonyms.

Through the lexical statistics of the landscape perception high-frequency word list, it was found that it contained a total of 84 nouns, 4 verbs, and 32 adjectives. Nouns, including “Xidi village”, “Huizhou architecture”, “Mingjing Lake”, and “sculpture”, primarily focus on the sense of a specific physical region and its attractions. Verbs are mainly related to the behavioral activities of travelers in the process of perception, such as “taking pictures”, “explaining”, and so on. In part, adjectives show the perception of the overall environment of Xidi village, such as “peach blossom”, “commercialized”, “ancient”, etc. But they also reflect the perception of the travelers or the personal feelings of the travelers, such as “peaceful”, “cozy”, etc.

3.1.2. Characterization of the Semantic Web

Semantic network analysis is a type of study that builds co-occurrence links between high-frequency words using computer statistical techniques and high-frequency feature words. It usually takes entities, concepts, or theme representations as nodes and, with numerical processing, forms a structured model that can effectively reveal and understand the degree of association between texts, images, or other data. Although high-frequency feature words can more accurately capture tourists’ perceptions of the landscape in the profile, their intricate structural relationships are more challenging to adequately reflect [37]. The further use of semantic network analysis can be more intuitive to study the association between high-frequency words of landscape perception and the degree of association.

ROST CM6 software was used to analyze the semantic network of the valid database, and NetDraw software was used to draw a semantic network analysis diagram related to the landscape perception characteristics of Xidi village (Figure 3). The sparseness of the connecting lines between each high-frequency word in the figure represents the strength of association and the hierarchical relationship between them. As can be seen from the figure, “Xidi village” is located in the core position with the highest relevance in the network, representing the fundamental source of landscape perception of travelers and also the direct expression of the function and nature of the scenic spot. Secondly, words such as “architecture”, “culture”, “scenery”, and so on are in the sub-core position, expanding outward from the core content, reflecting the further understanding of travelers on the characteristics of the landscape system of Xidi village. The rest of the high-frequency words in the peripheral position are the most comprehensive extension of the core and sub-core content, containing the details of travelers’ perceptions of the Xidi village landscape.

As a typical representative of National Forest Villages and Huizhou villages, Xidi village enjoys the reputation of “China’s Ming and Qing Dynasty Residence Museum” and the “Peach Blossom Garden Home”. As shown in

Table 2. Connection strength of the top 100 words.

Serial Number	Connecting Word	Connectedness	Serial Number	Connecting Word	Connectedness	Serial Number	Connecting Word	Connectedness	Serial Number	Connecting Word	Connectedness
1	Architecture-Xidi village	164	26	Business—Breath	60	51	Stream-Xidi village	48	76	Attractions-Xidi village	42
2	Village-Xidi village	141	27	Scent-Xidi village	60	52	Hongcun-Quietness	47	77	Architecture-Stone Carving	41
3	Worthwhile-Xidi village	121	28	Yixian-Xidi village	59	53	Landscape-Experience	47	78	Peach Blossom Garden-Home	40
4	Landscape-Xidi village	114	29	Hongcun-Huizhou architecture	58	54	Village-Culture	47	79	Peach Blossom Garden-Xidi village	40
5	Huizhou Architecture-Xidi village	110	30	Huizhou-Xidi village	58	55	Stone-Brick Carving	47	80	Residence-Yixian	40
6	Culture-Xidi village	101	31	Worthwhile-Architecture	58	56	Huizhou-Culture	46	81	Huizhou Architecture-Culture	40
7	Worthwhile-Xidi	96	32	Pink Walls-Black Tiles and Decorated Eaves	57	57	Worthwhile-Place	46	82	Beautiful-Xidi village	40
8	History-Xidi village	94	33	Landscape-Overall	56	58	Stone Carving-Xidi village	46	83	Suitable-Xidi village	40
9	Residence-Xidi village	94	34	Business-Hongcun	55	59	Typical-Huizhou Architecture	45	84	Village-Xidi village	39
10	Hongcun-Architecture	83	35	Architecture-Culture	54	60	Worthwhile-Culture	45	85	Stream-Architecture	39
11	Worthwhile-Hongcun	75	36	Night-Light Show	53	61	Street-Xidi village	45	86	Huangshan-Xidi village	39
12	Village-Hongcun	72	37	Landscape-Hongcun	53	62	Business-Xidi village	45	87	Overall-Cost-performance	39
13	Evening-Xidi village	65	38	Wood Carving-Brick carving	53	63	Compare-Hongcun	45	88	Village-Dwellings	38
14	Interesting-Fun	65	39	Village-Huizhou architecture	53	64	Worthwhile-experiencing	45	89	Preservation-Xidi village	38
15	Interesting-Landscape	65	40	Landscape-Cost-performance	53	65	Residence-History	44	90	Wood Carving-Architecture	37
16	Village-Architecture	65	41	Wood Carving-Stone Carving	52	66	Village-History	44	91	History-Hongcun	37
17	Landscape-Hongcun	64	42	Ancient Architecture-Xidi village	51	67	Wood Carving-Xidi village	44	92	Fun-Overall	37
18	Archway-Xidi village	64	43	Light Show-Xidi village	50	68	Artistic-Architecture	43	93	Residence-Huizhou	37
19	Hongcun-Culture	63	44	History-Culture	50	69	Architecture-Huizhou Architecture	43	94	Huisman-Architecture	37
20	Residence-Architecture	63	45	Scenic spot-Xidi village	50	70	Worthwhile-Huizhou Architecture	43	95	Brick Carving-Xidi village	37
21	Culture-Concrete Details	63	46	People-Xidi village	49	71	Village-Huizhou	43	96	Village-Huizhou	37
22	Huizhou-Xidi village	63	47	Quietness-Xidi village	49	72	Typical—Xidi village	42	97	Feeling-Xidi village	36
23	History-Architecture	62	48	Hongcun-Commercialization	48	73	Yixian County-Architecture	42	98	China-Xidi village	36
24	Landscape-Fun	62	49	Place-Xidi village	48	74	Stone Road-Xidi village	42	99	Residence-Hongcun	36
25	Villages-Worthwhile	61	50	Artistic-Xidi village	48	75	Commercialization-Xidi village	42	100	Xidi village-Guide	36

, the terms “architecture-Xidi village”, “village-Xidi village”, “scenery-Xidi village”, “culture-Xidi village”, and “culture-Xidi village” have the highest rankings. “Other terms possess the highest degree of connectivity. This shows that the natural and humanistic landscape and landscape atmosphere of Xidi village are the direct reasons for shaping the landscape perception of travelers, and that architecture and scenery influence the first image of Xidi village, while the combination of the two deepens the perception level of travelers from the material to the immaterial and, at the same time, confirms the accuracy and reasonableness of the village’s positioning from the side. Secondly, words with higher connectivity, such as “residential-Xidi village”, “carving-Xidi village”, and “stream-Xidi village”, are subsets of the words with the highest connectivity, which are the further excavation of the landscape features of Xidi village by travelers. Xidi village landscape features are further explored by travelers. Ancient houses, pagodas, and ancestral halls are the carriers of the essence of Huizhou architectural culture, which are widely recognized by travelers as the perceptual contents with the highest degree of connectivity at the architectural level. Due to the landscape pattern of Xidi village with “three streams converging”, the water system in the village has become the most profound perceptual image of the natural landscape for recreational visitors. In addition, words such as “Light Show-Xidi village” and “night-Light Show”, which also maintain a high degree of connectivity, reflect the main content of travelers’ perceptions of nighttime landscapes. Due to the poor visibility of natural and humanistic landscapes at night, artificial landscapes such as Light Shows and Water Screen Movies become the main viewing places for travelers at night and receive good evaluation feedback. Finally, the terms “worth-Xidi village”, “art-Xidi village”, and “business-Xidi village” represent the overall impression of travelers on the landscape system of Xidi village, and they generally agree that the architecture and scenery of Xidi village are worth visiting and that there is a strong artistic and cultural atmosphere and a certain degree of commercialization in the whole village.

3.2. Construction of a Multidimensional Landscape Perception Model and Data Analysis

3.2.1. Construction of a Multidimensional Perception Model of Xidi Village Landscape

The key ideas of landscape perception for travelers were honed using the high-frequency word list and semantic network analysis map of Xidi village. Based on the frequency of vocabulary occurrence and the degree of connectivity, 33 key ideas in

Table 3. Important concepts of landscape perception in Xidi village.

Serial Number	Important Concepts	Serial Number	Important Concepts	Serial Number	Important Concepts
1	Scenery	12	Huizhou Architecture	23	Water Screen Movie
2	Stream	13	Light Show	24	Horsehead wall
3	Night View	14	Streets and Alleys	25	Commercialization
4	Primitive Ecology	15	Archway	26	Quietness
5	Rapeseed Flowers	16	Stone Carving	27	Beautiful
6	Observation Deck	17	Wood Carving	28	Distinctive
7	Peach Blossom Garden	18	Brick Carving	29	Antique Style
8	Mingjing Lake	19	Black Tiles and Decorated Eaves	30	Well-preserved
9	Small Bridge and Flowing Water	20	Pink Walls	31	Interesting
10	Countryside	21	Musical Fountain	32	Artistic
11	Lotus Pond	22	Ancestral Hall	33	Cozy

were finally sorted out, and they were taken as the sub-level in the multidimensional perception model of the landscape and prepared for further integration.

Among the existing studies on landscape perception at home and abroad, the Guidelines for the Assessment of Landscape Character in England and Scotland intend to assess, conserve, and manage the landscape character of England and Scotland for environmentally and economically sustainable development, covering many dimensions such as topography and geomorphic features, plant types and structural diversity, farmland and agricultural landscapes, landscape culture and history, and community involvement [38]. Beerli and other scholars believe that natural resources, a humanistic landscape, local atmosphere, and emotional response constitute the main perceptual elements of the imagery of tourist places [39]. The indicators for analyzing landscape characteristics were categorized into six major aspects by Daniel in his study, which examined the development trend of landscape and environmental quality assessment in the twenty-first century: visual aesthetics assessment, environmental quality assessment, geographic information assessment, perceptual process assessment, ecosystem management assessment, and socio-cultural factors assessment [40]. In a related study, Éva analyzed the changes in landscape characteristics and assessment methods in different geographical and cultural contexts, using an indicator system that contains four main aspects: spatial units, characteristics and differences in landscape types, differences in geographical and cultural values, and findings from expert interviews [41]. Based on the questionnaire survey data, Liu Fan and other scholars divided the landscape perception model into five major levels: landscape naturalness perception, landscape spatial perception, landscape shelter perception, landscape cultural perception, and landscape vision perception [42]. Xie Dixiang and Wu Jiaquan used the “cognitive-emotional” model as a guide to study the landscape perception imagery of Yongqing Fang on Enning Road in Guangzhou with four categories: resources, activities, environmental conditions, and ambient impressions [37].

Taking the above research content as a reference, combined with the actual situation of Xidi village and the important concepts extracted, the landscape naturalness perception, landscape humanities perception, and landscape atmosphere perception were finally formulated as the main level of the landscape multidimensional perception model, and the concepts of each sub-level were summarized into the corresponding main level, constituting a complete landscape multidimensional perception model. The weights of the primary and secondary levels are also calculated, and the macroscopic interrelationships are reflected in the form of visualization charts (Figure 4).

3.2.2. Characterization of Multidimensional Perception of Xidi Village Landscape

Landscape naturalness perception is a collection of sensory responses of travelers to the natural landscape and artificial natural landscape of Xidi village, representing the most attractive natural landscape categories in Xidi village, in which all categories appeared a total of 812 times, accounting for 23.6%, which is the lowest part of the landscape perception in the three main hierarchical levels. According to the frequency and proportion of each subcategory (Figure 5), “landscape” is the most prominent content in the perception of landscape naturalness, with a total of 359 occurrences, accounting for 44.2%, which represents the overall imagery of Xidi village’s natural landscape by travelers.

The natural landscape mainly contains “stream”, “rapeseed flowers”, “primitive ecology”, “Peach Blossom Garden”, and “countryside”, which appeared 269 times, accounting for 33.2% of the total. Among them, “primitive ecology” and “Peach Blossom Garden” belong to the supplement to the word “landscape”, appearing 57 times and 46 times, respectively, indicating that, in the perception of travelers, the natural landscape of Xidi village maintains a relatively complete ecosystem and biodiversity, and there is no intense conflict with local tourism development. The rural environment is becoming increasingly removed from people’s lives as a result of urbanization, and when the original natural scenery is seen, people cannot help but sigh “Peach Blossom Garden Home”, expressing their love for the natural landscape. Secondly, “stream” and “countryside” appeared 93 times and 22 times, respectively. The two streams in Xidi village run through the whole village, and the main and secondary roads in the village constitute the main framework of the village, which is an important part of the natural landscape of Xidi village, and also the landscape element that travelers can most directly contact. Agriculture is one of the main sources of income in Xidi village, and, through the protection of the ecological environment, a large area of farmland has been preserved around the village, which forms a unique agricultural landscape with abundant crops. Its idyllic scenery has also become a key factor in attracting travelers under the background of urbanization. As a short-lived seasonal landscape, “rapeseed flowers” appeared 51 times, accounting for 6.3% of the total number of times, indicating that it can become the most popular natural landscape for travelers within a specific period.

The artificial natural landscape mainly contains five parts: “night view”, “overlook platform”, “Mingjing Lake”, “Small Bridge and Flowing Water”, and “lotus pond”, which appeared 184 times, accounting for 22.6% of the total, and the overall perceived situation was significantly lower than that of the natural landscape. Among them, “night view” is in the first place with a frequency of 68 times and a proportion of 8.4%, which is the main source of perception for travelers at night. However, the visibility at night is low, so it is not possible to appreciate the natural landscape effectively, and there is the problem of poor ornamental experience and richness of content. Secondly, the “overlook platform” has become a hot spot for travelers due to its good view and rich landscape content, appearing a total of 49 times, which reflects the travelers’ viewing preferences and needs. “Mingjing Lake”, “Small Bridge and Flowing Water”, and “lotus pond”, as common landscape content nationwide, lack uniqueness compared with the neighboring landscapes and are therefore in the lowest position in terms of perceived value, making it difficult to arouse the interest of travelers.

The perception of the humanistic landscape is an intuitive reflection of the recognition of historical and cultural connotations based on the characteristics of the village and the travelers’ cognition, representing the preference, understanding, and acceptance of travelers of the humanistic landscape of Xidi village, in which all the categories appeared 1589 times in total, accounting for 45.6%, and it is the area with the highest degree of landscape perception in the three main levels. It can be seen that travelers have the richest perception of the humanistic landscape of Xidi village, which mainly focuses on the ancient architecture, artificial landscape, and intangible cultural heritage within the village residence.

According to the frequency and proportion of each category (Figure 6), “Huizhou architecture” is the most prominent content in the perception of landscape humanity, with a total of 710 occurrences, accounting for 44.7%. As a typical example of Huizhou villages, Xidi village still has more than 300 Ming and Qing residences, including 124 that are well-preserved. Thanks to its atmospheric layout, exquisite structure, and beautiful decoration, Xidi village has earned the reputation of “China’s Ming and Qing Residence Museum”, which is the most humanistic landscape content of the village and the main draw for travelers to come and play. This proves that leisure travelers give more consideration to the historical and humanistic heritage than modernized architectural forms. When further analyzed, it can be found that “archway” and “ancestral hall” are the most popular building types. The Hu Wenguang archway was built during the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty and is located at the gateway of the entrance, which can make a deep impression on travelers for the first time. In addition, as the only remaining Pai Lou in Xidi village, it belongs to the unmissable landscape content, which is highly attractive to travelers. As the carrier of the village’s historical lineage, the “ancestral hall” is the best way for travelers to understand the history and cultural development, and the high perception of the two reflects that travelers are much more interested in the historical buildings of Xidi village than the modern buildings created subsequently, and the learning and pursuit of cultural heritage is much higher than the experience of the commercialized atmosphere. Secondly, “Streets and Alleys” appears 118 times as a more prominent content, indicating that walking along streets and lanes has become a popular activity for recreational visitors in addition to viewing natural landscapes and historical buildings, and the green stone paved roads accompanied by the simple buildings on both sides of the road can play a role in accentuating the atmosphere and intoxicating recreation visitors with the ancient flavor of the ancient Jiangnan.

In the travelers’ perception of architectural details, “Black Tiles and Decorated Eaves”, “Pink Walls”, and “Horsehead Walls” have similar frequency and proportion. As the representative external structures of Huizhou architecture, they are the first landscape content that travelers pay attention to and understand, and in turn, they can produce a mutual correlation with the overall architectural landscape of the village. Secondly, in the internal structure of the building, “stone carving”, “Wood Carving”, and “brick carving” have a high degree of perception. As the famous intangible cultural heritage of Xidi village, they are often used in the decoration of architectural door plaques, windowsills, and indoor environments, possessing rich shapes and profound connotations, and they are the most observed part of the whole building, reflecting travelers’ love and interest in them and enabling them to have a more in-depth understanding of the heritage of Huizhou architecture. Finally, “Light Show”, “musical fountain”, and “Water Screen Movie” are the most highly perceived parts of the artificial landscape. Xidi village integrates history into the lighting and multimedia equipment and uses water as a carrier to show the cultural heritage of Xidi village to travelers at night. It is the main place for the nighttime activities of travelers, with the dual functions of viewing and learning, reflecting the high acceptance of travelers to the landscape form, which achieves the original intention of the artificial landscape when it was designed.

Landscape ambiance perception is the unique emotion produced by travelers on the landscape system under the comprehensive effect of the natural and humanistic landscape in Xidi village, and a good emotional response can effectively promote travelers’ emotional identification with the landscape system. In the landscape atmosphere perception, the frequency of all categories is 1020 times, accounting for 29.9%, and is the middle part of the landscape perception in the three main levels. This indicates that recreational visitors already have a certain emotional image of the landscape system of Xidi village, and they can summarize the characteristics of the landscape system of Xidi village comprehensively from the macroscopic and microcosmic perspectives, and the majority give favorable evaluations.

According to the frequency and percentage of each category (Figure 7), “commercialization” is the most prominent content in the perception of landscape atmosphere, with a total of 202 occurrences, accounting for 19.8%. As a cultural heritage, the historical and humanistic atmosphere of Xidi village is the most primitive tone of the village, but through the perceptual characteristics of travelers, it can be found that, with the tourism development in recent years, the primitive atmosphere of the interior of Xidi village is being diluted by commercialization, and there is a tendency to continue to enhance it, which has become one of the factors that generate negative emotions among travelers. Secondly, “quietness” and “beautiful” ranked second and third with frequencies of 152 and 148. This demonstrates that Xidi village was built later than its neighboring netroots, is less affected by outside influences, and generally still maintains a comfortable living environment. It also shows that Xidi village’s landscape system is capable of giving travelers an exceptionally high-quality aesthetic experience. Next, “distinctive”, “antique style”, and “well-preserved” all have a high degree of perception, and “distinctive” is the most important factor in travelers’ perception of Xidi village. The positive impression of Xidi village’s material and intangible landscapes is characteristic, which indicates that most of the travelers are positive about the unique flavor of Xidi village. “antique style” and “well-preserved” are not only the overall scope of Xidi village but also important impressions of its architecture, culture, and landscape, indicating that Xidi village has been well preserved and maintained in all aspects, and at the same time, it is different from the commercialized tourism atmosphere; the tourism atmosphere has formed a separate situation. Finally, “interesting”, “artistic”, and “cozy” are located at the lower perception level. “interesting” means that the human and natural landscapes mentioned above can fully mobilize the interest of travelers in viewing and activities. Due to the characteristics of Xidi village, many artists are attracted to visit for sketching and performances, and the historical atmosphere of the village creates an obvious artistic and cultural atmosphere. And in such a breadth of attractions and atmosphere, it is undoubtedly very pleasant.

3.2.3. Characterization of Multidimensional Perception of Xidi Village Landscape

The emotional perception of travelers represents their satisfaction with the landscape system of recreation sites, which is an important criterion for judging whether the landscape system of recreation sites can bring good experiences for travelers. Based on research by Xie Dixiang and Wu Jiaquan, we used the “word set for sentiment analysis (beta version)”, officially released by the China Knowledge Network, as the basis for analyzing the sentiment perception of travelers on the Xidi village landscape system, and, combined with the evaluation of the vocabulary related to sentiment in the data of this paper, we constructed the sentiment dictionary used in this study [29]. Subsequently, it was imported into the ROST CM6 software, and the emotion hierarchy was divided into three categories of positive, negative, and neutral emotions, according to the software criteria, and the evaluation level preset by the software was used as the evaluation standard. After the sentiment analysis, the results were obtained, as shown in

Table 4. Emotional perceptions of travelers on the landscape system of Xidi village.

Emotion Type	Totals	Percentage of Total	Degree of Evaluation (Score)	Number of Sub-Projects	Percentage of Number of Sub-Projects
Positive Emotions	1504	86.94%	Fair (0–10)	530	30.62%
			Medium (10–20)	420	24.30%
			High (20+)	554	32.02%
Negative Mood	118	6.82%	Fair (−10–0)	99	5.72%
			Medium (−20 to −10)	18	1.50%
			High (below −20)	1	0.05%
Neutral Mood	108	6.24%	0	None	None

.

First of all, from the table, it can be seen that travelers have the strongest perception of the positive sentiment towards the landscape system of Xidi village, with a total of 1504 comments, accounting for 86.94% of the total; the internal high evaluation is the main one, accounting for 32.2% of the total. This means that travelers have fully affirmed the natural and humanistic landscapes of Xidi village, and most of them said that Xidi village has beautiful scenery, a pleasant atmosphere, and is worthy of viewing. Secondly, neutral sentiment accounted for 6.24%, indicating that some travelers, while affirming the landscape system of Xidi village, also feel that some aspects need to be improved; for example, “the scenery is still very good, but the fun is general”, which, on the one hand, reflects the travelers’ demand for landscape functions other than viewing, and on the other hand, it shows that the current landscape system of Xidi village cannot be well understood and recognized by every recreationist. Finally, the negative sentiment accounts for 6.82%, reflecting the current problems of the landscape system in Xidi village. Some travelers feel that, although Xidi village possesses good landscape resources, the commercialized atmosphere is too heavy, which destroys the original temperament of the village and affects the overall viewing experience. Secondly, the homogenization of village characteristics is another major factor that triggers negative emotions. Some travelers feel that the landscape characteristics of Xidi village are not significantly different from those of Hui villages, such as Hongcun, and that it is not worthwhile to repeat the viewing in villages with similar styles.

4. Discussion

4.1. Comparison with Similar Studies

Based on the support of digital footprints, this study investigates the landscape perception of Xidi village, a National Forest Village, and compares it with similar studies in four aspects. First, in terms of research perspectives, while a wide range of landscape types have been included in applied research on the combination of digital footprints and landscape perception, there is a dearth of research on the landscape system from the viewpoint of the National Forest Village. Accordingly, this study adds new research perspectives to the body of related work, thereby expanding its scope. Second, the use of digital footprints in study methodology makes landscape perception research more practical, effective, and scientific when compared to more conventional approaches like questionnaire surveys. Some similar studies show a lack of completeness in the formulation of the research program and research steps compared with this study, even though they are identical to this study in terms of data sources, software application, and analysis methodologies. Third, concerning the research topic, some comparable studies tend to focus more on analyzing the macro-level features of recreationists’ perceptions of the landscape, which frequently results in ignoring the specific features of these perceptions. In order to produce more thorough and logical research findings, this study not only examines the features of recreationists’ perceptions of the landscape in general but also examines these features in detail using the primary and secondary hierarchical construction of the landscape multidimensional perception model. Finally, this study’s research objectives, perspectives, methods, contents, and outcomes vary somewhat from those of other similar studies in terms of strategy formulation, which causes differences from other similar studies in the strategy formulation section. This study primarily suggests the following three landscape system augmentation solutions for Xidi village, based on the actual landscape system there and the study’s findings.

4.2. Maintain and Enhance the Existing Strengths of the Xidi Village Landscape System

Xidi village, as a famous world cultural heritage, has ecological landscape resources integrating mountains, rivers, forests, grasslands, farmlands, and water systems at the natural level. At the humanistic level, Xidi village, with its long historical heritage, has cultural landscape resources integrating architecture, gardens, and non-heritage areas. The features of Xidi village’s landscape system that travelers perceive as most important are “scenery”, “Huizhou architecture”, “historical heritage”, and other elements. The majority of travelers find great pleasure in Xidi village’s natural and humanistic landscape and believe it is a worthwhile destination. It can be seen that the existing landscape resources of Xidi village are already attractive enough to travelers. Therefore, how to maintain and strengthen the existing advantages is an issue that needs to be discussed.

First, the study’s findings indicate that travelers’ preferences are primarily centered around two things: appreciating the natural world and comprehending humanistic history. As a result, it is possible to fully integrate the landscape resources already in place and increase their influence by actively organizing theme events that are connected to Xidi village’s natural and humanistic landscapes in collaboration with locals, educational institutions, and social service providers. Second, in order to distinguish Xidi village from other Huizhou villages, its present terrain advantages must be utilized to create a distinctive landscape picture. The landscape system of Xidi village is perceived by travelers as having three distinct qualities that set it apart from other Huizhou villages: “quietness”, “original flavor”, and “literary atmosphere”. These elements can be leveraged to further the cause of Xidi village. You may use these components to advertise Xidi village. Lastly, in the context of the digital age, the landscape features of Xidi village play a significant role in multifaceted publicity, enhancing the village’s global visibility, and drawing tourists from all over the world. This is accomplished with the aid of various network platforms and offline publicity.

4.3. Improving the Revitalization and Utilization of Natural Landscape Resources in Xidi Village

In the perceptual characteristics of travelers on the landscape system of Xidi village, most of the perceptual content is focused on the two aspects of humanistic landscape and landscape atmosphere, and there is an obvious lack of the degree of perception of the natural landscape. Being a typical example of a national forest hamlet, Xidi hamlet has an abundance of geographical and natural resources, which makes it an ideal starting point for resolving the issues mentioned above.

First, to ensure that travelers visiting Xidi village’s humanistic landscape are aware that Xidi village’s natural landscape also possesses a high degree of ornamental qualities, the most beautiful and distinctive natural landscape in the village should be chosen. Posters, videos, or reports should be used to strengthen the publicity of Xidi village’s natural landscape and publicity channels. Second, the study’s findings indicate that travelers’ perceptions of natural landscapes are primarily reflected in the fields and streams that are part of the village residence area. They have a low perception of significant natural landscapes, such as mountains, rivers, and forests, which is indicative of the issue of inadequate use of different kinds of natural landscapes. To increase the opportunities for travelers to interact with nature and make natural landscapes more appealing to them, the development of natural landscapes surrounding villages should be further rationalized. Recreation routes connecting various types of natural and humanistic landscapes should also be designed based on the characteristics of the landscape. Ultimately, the recreational range of the recreationist may be increased by incorporating infrastructure into the natural landscape. This enables the recreationist to spend more time in the natural environment, which results in the production of richer perceptual images of nature.

4.4. Avoid Excessive Commercial Development of the Xidi Village Landscape System

From the analysis of the perceived emotional status of travelers, it can be found that over-commercialization is one of the main triggers for the negative emotions of travelers. However, proper commercialization not only contributes to the brand image of the destination but also can generate significant economic revenues, which largely form the driving force behind the destination’s continued development. Therefore, how to balance the relationship between conservation and commercialization has become another issue that Xidi village needs to address.

First, a strong protection policy is the cornerstone of any balance, as it may define the standards and safeguards for the management of Xidi village’s landscape system and prevent overdevelopment if guidelines are lacking. Second, in order to formulate appropriate directions and objectives for orderly and reasonable development work, it would be important to extensively gather the opinions and requirements of travelers for the continued development of the Xidi village landscape system. Ultimately, the implementation of a strong feedback mechanism can promptly address deficiencies and provide a superior landscape system that genuinely fulfills the demands of recreational visitors.

5. Conclusions

Taking the research on landscape perception of National Forest Villages as an entry point, this study selected Xidi village in Yixian County, Anhui Province, as a research case. With the support of active digital footprint data and ROST CM6 software, high-frequency words of landscape perception were refined, and relevant semantic networks were formed, which effectively showed the profile of landscape perception features, deep interconnections, and structural features of Xidi village by travelers. Secondly, guided by the previous research foundation and combined with the actual situation of Xidi village’s landscape system, the multidimensional landscape perception model of Xidi village was divided into three main levels and thirty-three corresponding sub-levels, namely, landscape naturalness perception, landscape humanism perception, and landscape ambiance perception, and detailed characterization studies were carried out. Finally, by combining the “word set for sentiment analysis (beta version)” released by the China Knowledge Network and the emotion words involved in the research data, an emotion dictionary was compiled to analyze the emotional perception of travelers, and the sentiment analysis function of ROST CM6 software was used to derive the positive, negative, and neutral emotions of travelers towards the landscape system of Xidi village.

The study shows that the high-frequency words of travelers’ perception of Xidi village’s landscape system are mainly centered on natural scenery, historical architecture, and cultural heritage, which are the most attractive and concerned landscape contents. Secondly, the overall perception of travelers on Xidi village’s landscape system shows that the perception of landscape humanity is greater than the perception of landscape atmosphere, and the perception of landscape atmosphere is greater than the perception of landscape nature, reflecting that travelers’ interest in humanistic landscapes such as Huizhou architecture and the pursuit of environmental experience is higher than their love for natural landscapes. The humanistic perceptions of landscape mainly focus on the level of tangible heritage, such as ancient houses and ancestral halls, and intangible heritage, such as carvings. The perception of landscape atmosphere mainly focuses on the visual feeling of the overall environment and the understanding of the cultural heritage. The perception of landscape naturalness mainly focuses on natural landscapes, such as water systems and fields, as well as artificial natural landscapes, such as the Mingjing Lake and viewing platforms. Finally, the emotional perception of travelers on the landscape system of Xidi village is generally more positive than negative, and more negative than neutral. This shows that the vast majority of travelers are satisfied with the landscape system of Xidi village, while the causes of negative emotions mainly lie in the strong commercial atmosphere, homogenized landscape features, and lack of infrastructure, which are real problems that need to be improved urgently.

Overall, this study effectively utilized text-based digital footprints to analyze the features of recreationists’ perceptions of the landscape of Xidi village. Based on the study’s findings, a relatively objective planning strategy was proposed for the village’s landscape system, resolving the issue of organizing, planning, and analyzing the enhancement of the national forested countryside’s landscape resources in the absence of microscopic viewpoint entry. However, this study also has some limitations. First, digital footprints have evolved and have spawned a variety of types other than text-based digital footprints. Although a text-based digital footprint is more suitable in this study, it can be applied in a limited number of scenarios and does not encompass all the advantages of the other digital footprint types in application, so a combination of multiple digital footprint types may reflect a better research effect. Second, this study constructed a multidimensional model of landscape perception that includes three main levels and thirty-three sub-levels, which more thoroughly takes into account the primary perceptual activities of recreationists. This model was based on the characteristics of landscape perception of recreationists in Xidi village and the existing studies on the development of landscape perception indicators at home and abroad. But perception is more than just the primary and secondary levels that are part of the multidimensional model of landscape perception; it is a complicated human activity of awareness. Thus, it will be extremely meaningful to combine sociology, psychology, and different research techniques to continue delving deeper into the kind of landscape perception that recreationists have. Understanding people’s actual needs is fundamental to landscape planning and design, which is a human-centered field. In the planning and design of landscapes, perception plays a crucial reference role since it is a direct reflection of people’s feelings. Therefore, it is crucial to conduct further research on landscape perception both now and in the future. In the context of the information age, big data gradually covers all aspects of people’s lives and production and becomes an important tool for managing and constructing landscapes, and digital footprints, as a branch of big data application, possess significant advantages in terms of efficiency and effectiveness compared with traditional landscape perception methods. Therefore, the application of digital footprints to the study of landscape perception is likely to become a new trend with good application prospects, and it is undoubtedly of great social significance and application value to carry out in-depth exploration of related research.