Yizhi Yao

Yao is a PhD student in the School of Art History and the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of St Andrews. Her research focuses on cultural practices among Chinese diaspora communities in the UK. Taking Feng Shui as a case study, it examines how traditional Chinese philosophy and spatial knowledge are transmitted and reinterpreted in the overseas cultural context, while exploring their significance for Chinese diaspora communities and existing heritage frameworks.

Cultural traditions; diaspora communities; place attachment; cultural identity; urban heritage conservation and planning; community heritage; cultural history of pre-modern China.