【正文】 applicable and empirical findings from developed societies may or may not be relevant to the Chinese context, this study takes a different approach. Instead of applying travel motivation models conceptualized in the developed western societies, the study aims to set up a theoretical model through an intense scrutiny of textual data collected from indepth and freeflow interviews with 27 Chinese seniors. The study first presents an array of basic psychological theories on aging and motivation as the foundation to understand the aging phenomenon in relation to China‘s tourism. Adopting the grounded theory approach, the study then proposes a model of motivations for senior tourism in China. Further, the study puts forward eight propositions, each of which is discussed in reference to extant tourism literature on motivations. Chinese senior tourism motivation The study of motivation is to ask the ―why‖ of actions. It is an attempt to eventually influence one‘s behavior。 Carlson, 1999。 Hsu, 2021). The model is dichotomous by motivation (seeking and escaping) and by social orientation (personal or interpersonal). After a person recognizes one or both motivations, he or she will make choices based on social orientation (., to go alone or with others). The seeking and removing concepts (or escaping as in Iso Ahola‘s model) emphasize more on the ―what‖ than ―why‖ of actions. Another weakness of IsoAhola‘s model, particularly in the context of senior tourism, is the absence of the biological dimension of motivation as could be found in most traditional theories of motivation in psychological and social fields. One of the recent modifications of traditional motivation theories is a twodimensional model by Subbotsky (1995). One dimension is concerned with pragmatic motives based on biological needs, largely independent of social and cultural factors. The other dimension consists of no pragmatic motives, such as those based on selfesteem, empathy, and moral values. Subbotsky‘s model is distinct in that it allows a considerable overlap between the two: nonpragmatic motives can be developed from the activities pursued in the satisfaction of biological needs. The study of the ―why‖ of senior tourism requires the examination of both biological and sociocultural dimensions of motivation, and their interrelationships. Health and sensory abilities play a major role in behaviors and their underlying motivations. A recognized fact of aging is the continuous deterioration in health and physical abilities. During their lifetime, seniors have experienced and witnessed major social changes, which are often acpanied by changes of cultural values. These social and cultural changes can also have a major influence on travel motives. The improved living standards of the Chinese seniors, which directly affect their health and physical abilities, have been brought about by government policy shifts that have spurred drastic transformation of social and cultural environments, albeit some changes were unintentional in the policy design. An important social and cultural aspect of senior motivation in China‘s setting is the concept of ―self.‖ Following Hofstede‘s cultural model (1980), China is typically classified as possessing the culture of collectivism. Compared with their counterparts in an individualistic society, members of a collective society are more conscious of the impacts of their behaviors on others, and their motivation of actions is more shaped by their perceptions of how others would perceive the actions. In this regard, Bandura‘s (1991) threeclass motivation is of particular interest. The first class is similar to the biological dimension of a traditional theory (. Subbotsky, 1995). The second class consists of learned motives that operate through social incentives. People seek the approval of others and will refrain from activities that lead to disapproval. Motives in this class depend primarily on the reaction of others. The third class of motives consists of cognitively based anticipations. Individuals set goals for themselves and their behaviors are guided by these selfdetermined expectations and perceptions. The concept of self is very much in play in this classification of motivation. The self is a social construction, as well as a social constructor. Therefore, ―it adjusts to changes, and at least two areas where changes occur, are from aging and the environment‖ (Eyetsemitan amp。 Furchtgott, 1999, p. 2). The attempt to understand the ―why‖ of senior tourism in China is precisely a part of the effort to influence seniors‘ behaviors with the goal to improve the quality of their lives through leisure travel. The idea of successful aging or aging well has been embraced in many developed economies, but has only begun to gain attention in developing countries. By 2025 over twothirds of those 65 years and over will be living in the developing world, and the growth rate of the elderly population in developing countries will range between 106% and 174% as pared to developed countries where the increase will be just over 50% (US Bureau of the Census, 1999). This growth trend in the developing countries has not been matched by a corresponding increase in research on the quality of life of seniors, and ―there is a pelling need to understand the potentials of later life in the developing world‖ (Eyetsemitan amp。 Tsai, 2021).‖ Anderson and Langmeyer pared the profiles of people under and above 50 years old, and found that ―over 50 years old travelers tended to travel for rest and relaxation or to visit relatives and preferred to visit historical sites (Anderson amp。 Fleischer amp。 A model of senior tourism motivations—Anecdotes from Beijing and Shanghai Cathy . Hsu， Liping A. Cai， Kevin . Wong School of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong P