Zhang Han
PhD(Doctor of Philosophy)/ Senior Researcher School of Geography
Field: Urban studies; Social and cultural geography; Political geography; Urban religion; Culture-driven urban regeneration (Gentrification); Platform urbanism; Wanghong economy; Rural revitalization; Tibet; Tourism
zhanghan0521@m.scnu.edu.cn;zhanghan0521@connect.hku.hk

Education

Ph.D (Doctor of Philosophy)    September 2020 – April 2025
The University of Hong Kong, Department of Geography, Hong Kong SAR



Master of Social Sciences     August 2016- July 2019
University of Macau, Faculty of Social Sciences, Macao SAR


Bachelor of Science (Geographical Science)    September 2012 - July 2016
South China Normal University, School of Geography, Guangzhou
Centre for Cultural Industry and Cultural Geography, Guangzhou

Experience

The University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Institute of Research and Innovation (HKU-SIRI) (Shen Zhen)    
September 2019 – August 2020
Full-time Research Assistant

Teaching

Academics

Honor

Representative Publications

Zhang, H., Qian, J., & Kong, L. (2024). “Fly Buddha to Mars”: The co-production between religiosity and science & technology at Longquan Monastery, Beijing. Geoforum, 148, 103948. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2024.103948 (SSCI, online first, JCR2024, IF2024=3.4, 1区(Q1), 18/171 in Geography; 中科院分区, 大类分区: 社会学2区TOP; 小类分区: 地理学2区)

Zhang, H., & Qian, J. (2024). Branding the ‘VBA’ (Village Basketball Association) to revitalise a Miao village: Platform ruralism in the making. Area, 00, e12951. https://doi. org/10.1111/area.12951 (SSCI, online first, JCR2024, IF2024=1.6, 2区(Q2), 75/171 in Geography, times cited: 3; 中科院分区, 大类分区: 社会学2区; 小类分区: 地理学3区)

Qian, J., Zhang, H., & Liu, Y. (2023). Everyday geographies of market transition: Agro‐science, socio‐technical relations, and the contingencies of market making in peri‐urban Lhasa, Tibet. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers. 48, 634-649. https://doi.org/10.1111/tran.12612 (SSCI, online first, JCR2024, IF 2024=3.3, 1区(Q1), 19/171 in Geography, times cited: 2, Top journal; 中科院分区, 大类分区: 社会学1区TOP; 小类分区: 地理学2区)

Zhang, H., & Qian, J. (2022). Reconciling essential and socially constructed selves: Han Chinese travelling to Tibet and the making of assemblage self. Asia Pacific Viewpoint, 63(2), 180-193. https://doi.org/10.1111/apv.12344 (SSCI, online first, JCR2024, IF2024=1.8, 1区(Q1), 17/176 in Area Studies; times cited: 3; 2区(Q2), 61/171 in Geography, times cited: 3; 中科院分区, 大类分区: 社会学3区; 小类分区: 地域研究3区, 地理学3区)

Qian, J., & Zhang, H. (2022). University geography in China: History, opportunities, and challenges. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 47(1), 28-33. https://doi.org/10.1111/tran.12435 (SSCI, online first, IF 2024=3.3, 1区(Q1), 19/171 in Geography, Top Cited Article 2022-2023 in Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, times cited: 30, Top journal; 中科院分区, 大类分区: 社会学1区TOP; 小类分区: 地理学2区, 该文为2022-2023高被引文章)

Junxi Qian, Han Zhang. Imagination, Performance and Power: The construction of “otherness” in the process of travel in Tibet. Tourism Tribune, 2016, 31(6): 82-93. (中文标题:  钱俊希 & 张瀚.(2016).想象、展演与权力:西藏旅游过程中的“他者性”建构. 旅游学刊(06),82-93. doi:CNKI:SUN:LYXK.0.2016-06-016.) [CSSCI, Tourism Tribune is the top 1 journal of tourism studies in China; Reprinted in Information Centre For Social Science Of RUC(人大复印报刊资料收录; 被引: 46;入选哲学社会科学主文献)

Non-representative Publications

Zhang, X., Li, J., Dong, Q., Wang, Z., Zhang, H., & Liu, X. (2022). Bridging the gap between GRACE and GRACE-FO using a hydrological model. Science of The Total Environment, 822, 153659. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153659 (SCI, online first, JCR2024, IF 2024=8.2, Q1, 31/358 in Environmental Sciences & Ecology, times cited: 37; 中科院分区, 环境科学与生态学1区 TOP)

Book Chapters

Zhang Han, Qian Junxi. 2020. This-worldly Buddhism: Digital Media and the Performance of Religiosity in China. // Catherine Gomes, Lily Kong(eds). 2020. Religion, Hypermobility and Digital Media in Global Asia. Faith, Flows and Fellowship. Amsterdam University Press.

Qian Junxi, Zhang Han. 2025. Religious economies: Insights from Buddhist innovations in China. In: Woods O, Kong L, Tse J (eds.), Handbook of the Geographies of Religion. Singapore: Springer.

News Articles

张瀚, 钱俊希. 城市与社会 | 希望的空间?大都市中的农民工博物馆. 澎湃新闻. 2019 年 11 月 17 日. [Space of hope? Migrant Worker Museum in metropolitan contexts], published on The Paper (a major online media in China), URL: https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_4966058.

張瀚.「澳門城市文化」再思考. 澳門日報. 2016年10月3日. (The most influential newspaper in Macau)

Conference Articles

Zhang Han, Qian Junxi. A post-secular tale of two metropolises: Articulating entrepreneurial religion through variegated landscapes of ‘urban Buddhism’ in Shanghai and Beijing. American Association of Geographer 2024 AAG Annual Meeting. April 2024, Honolulu, Hawaiian, United States.

Zhang Han. “Fly Buddha to Mars”: The co-production between religiosity and science & technology in Longquan Monastery, Beijing. 23rd Annual Research Postgraduate Conference. June 2023. The University of Hong Kong.

钱俊希, 张瀚. 主-客互动过程中“他者性”的建构——以拉萨大昭寺广场及八廓街为例. 2015 年《旅游学刊》中国旅游研究学术年会,2015 年 10 月,北京联合大学,中国北京 (优秀论文奖)

钱俊希, 张瀚. 旅游与现代性:一个批判性综述. 2017 年旅游学刊中国旅游研究年会, 2017 年 11 月,北京联合大学,中国北京

Ph.D Thesis

Spatialising the Interface between Spirituality and Secular Modernity: Mahayana Buddhism as Entrepreneurial Religion in Urban China. PhD dissertation. The University of Hong Kong. 2025. (Level: Excellent; Committee members: Prof. Peter Hopkins, Prof. Tom McDonald, Prof. Benjamin L Iaquinto, Prof. Liu Xingjian)

Affiliations

Member of the Geographical Society of China (GSC)
American Association of Geographers (AAG).
Anonymous reviewers: Journal of Rural Studies

Misc

Students & Collaborations

I am always happy to hear from students who are curious and kind.
My work spans urban studies, social and cultural geography, political geography, urban religion, platform urbanism & wanghong economy, culture-led gentrification, and rural digitalization & digital nomads. If these spark your interest — whether you’re in geography, planning, tourism, sociology, anthropology, or new media — you’re very welcome to reach out.


Current note on supervision

I am a newly appointed early-career faculty member; my eligibility to supervise master’s students is not yet approved. I will update this page once it is granted.
Planned supervision areas:
Subject Teaching (Geography) — expected by late 2025
Human Geography — timeline TBD


Academic Profiles

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=QGndH1IAAAAJ&hl=zh-CN
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9073-0207
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Han-Zhang-110
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