As a symbol of cultural exchange, destination clothing experience is of great importance in the construction of tourists’ identity, especially the traditional clothing experience. In recent years, Hanfu has gradually become a representative symbol of Chinese culture, and many tourist attractions have become the initial platform of Hindu use. Nevertheless, previous research on tourism experience paid little attention to traditional clothing experiences in tourism, and the interaction mechanism therein has not yet been fully investigated. Hence, this study explores the experiential mechanism of tourists wearing Hanfu in a destination and analyzes the role of tourism experience in tourists’ self-perception. Xi’an, China was chosen as the case location, and data were obtained through participant observation and semi-structured interviews. Based on grounded theory, this study extracted 53 initial categories which were then categorised into 13 sub-categories, which were further re-organised into six main categories, and then constructed a storyline of the process-mechanism model of tourists’ Hanfu experience. Major findings show that tourists’ self-consciousness is generated when wearing Hanfu. Furthermore, the interaction can strengthen tourists’ cultural identity and contribute to the self-identity construction; self-consciousness sublimates self-identity, place attachment and patriotism. The present study supplements existing research on tourism experience and provides valuable insights for effective marketing in tourist destinations.