zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQP
Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 362-392, I998
0 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved
Printed in Great Britain
0160-7383/98 $19.00+0.00
PII:SOlSO-7383(97)00092-3 zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgf
TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AND
CULTURAL POLICIES IN CHINA zyxwvutsrqpon
Trevor H. B. Sofield
Fung M ei Sarah Li
Murdoch University, Australia
Abstract:
As China actively
pursues
modernization,
the tensions
among a rigid application
of
socialism,
the conservatism
of tradition,
and the demands
of economic
development
threaten
to destabilize
the nation.
All three elemental
forces have contradictory
objectives
and the
Chinese
Communist
Party expends
significant
effort in attempts
to reconcile
those differences.
Tourism
has emerged
as an effective
vehicle for synthesizing
some of the differences
through
its contribution
to the modernization
process, its utilization
of heritage
for product development,
and its role in meeting
some socialist objectives.
Tourism
in China has thus exerted a centripetal
influence,
lessening
to some extent
tensions
among
the three opposing
forces. Keywords:
socialism,
modernization,
heritage
tourism.
0 1998 Elsevier
Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
R&urn&
Le dtveloppement
du tourisme
et la politique
culturelle
en Chine. Au fur g mesure
que la Chine poursuit
activement
la modernisation,
les tensions
entre one application
rigide
du socialisme,
le conservation
des traditions
et les exigences
du dCveloppement
Cconomique
menacent
de dhstabiliser
la nation.
Ces trois forces &%nentaires
ont toutes
des objectifs
contradictoires,
et le Parti Communiste
Chinois
consacre
un effort considtrable
B rCconcilier
ces diff6rences.
Le tourisme
a Cmergt
comme on vthicule
efficace pour synthbtiser
quelquesones des diffkrences
par sa contribution
au processus
de modernisation,
son utilisation
du
patrimoine
pour dtvelopper
des produits
et son r61e dans la Galisation
des objectifs
socialistes.
Le tourisme
en Chine a done exercC one influence
centripkte
et att6nut
les tensions
entre les
trois forces opposantes.
Mats-cl&:
socialisme,
modernisation,
tourisme
patrimonial.
0 1998
Elsevier
Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
One ofthe
most striking
andpeculiarfeatures
of the intellectual
China has been the emergence andpersistence
ofprofoundly
history of 20th century
iconoclastic
attitudes towards
the cultural heritage of the Chinese past. Despite the success ofthe Communist
in transforming
historico-cultural
state and society, the relationship
lega
remains uncertain anddeeply
revolution
of the new order to the traditional
ambiguous
(Lin Yu-Sheng
1979).
INTRODUCTION zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFED
Like the Chinese zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIH
cheung nga kau (ivory artifact)
in which a series of
concentric ivory balls are carved one inside the other, the complexities
of tourism development
in contemporary
China enclose one era after
another and may only be understood by delving back into the past. A
unifying theme throughout China’s long history of tourism is the place
of culture and the traditions
of heritage
tourism and pilgrimage.
Trevor
Sofield is Director
of the Tourism
Program,
Murdoch
University
(Murdoch
W. A.
6150, Australia.
Email
[email protected])
and a founding
member
of the Asia
Pacific Tourism Association.
Sarah Li (MS. in tourism,, Universityofsurrey)
is aPh.D. candidate
at Murdoch
University.
In addition
to fieldwork
in Chma in the past five years, both authors
are
currently
engaged
in collaborative
work with Hangzhou
University’s
College of Tourism,
Zhejiang Province.
362
SOFIELD
AND LI
363
Where this theme was central
during the four millennia
covering
the
reigns of the dynastic
emperors
from 2000 BC to 1900 AD, it virtually
disappeared
during the 20th century
as a series of upheavals
wracked
the country.
The declaration
of a Republic
in 1912 broke the linkage
with annual
imperial
pilgrimages.
Subsequent
internal
unrest,
up to
the time of the civil war between
the forces of the Chinese
Communist
Party
(CCP)
led by Mao Zedong
and the Kuomintang
regime
of
Chiang
Kai Shek in the latter half of the 40s prevented
most recreational
travel.
Then,
for the three
and a half decades
of Mao
Zedong’s
regime, both traditional
culture
and freedom
to travel were
suppressed,
often ruthlessly,
as Mao pursued
his vision of “totalistic
iconoclasm”
(Lin 1979: 1).
Only with the advent of Deng Xiaoping’s
“open door” policies of
1978 were these trends
reversed.
Tourism
then became
acceptable
because
of its capacity
to make a contribution
to modernization.
Paradoxically,
the conservation
and presentation
of traditional
culture
was also approved
because
of its perceived
contribution
to enhance
national
unity and to develop the country’s
tourism product. However,
contradictions
remain
between
the differing
objectives
of the forces
of socialism,
modernization,
globalization
and traditional
culture
as
the Chinese
economy
powers its way towards
the year 2000. In this
context,
it is suggested
that contemporary
tourism
development
and
cultural
policy in China, particularly
as manifested
through
heritage
and the preservation
of ethnic minority
cultures,
is proving an effective vehicle for reconciling
to some extent those differing
objectives.
This paper analyzes
the tensions
generated
between
the Chinese
government’s
determination
to maintain
political
stability
under the
Communist
Party and attempts
to find the appropriate
mix of traditional
Chinese
culture,
socialist culture,
and “modern”
culture
(the
latter
necessarily
incorporating
western
values
and systems),
with
reference
to developments
in tourism.
It focuses more on the dynamics
of the centripetal
and centrifugal
internal
forces exerted
between
socialist
ideology and traditional
culture
rather
than modernity
and
exogenous
global forces, although
tourism
must be seen as a significant
force for modernization.
To reach an understanding
of the complex
linkages
between
these
different
elements,
the paper explores
the concept
of globalization
and China’s
tourism
development.
It provides
background
on historical
antecedents
for travel in China.
A number
of policy areas
during
Mao’s regime
are examined:
education,
the social sciences,
and their
relationship
to heritage;
“non”
tourism;
and the collectivization
of handicrafts.
The changes
wrought
by Deng’s “open
door” policies of 1978 including
implications
for tourism
and heritage
(Chinese
Government
1982); policy towards
the ethnic
minorities,
and the environment
are then reviewed.
Tourism
policies from 1949
to 1995 are briefly surveyed
and the roles of heritage
and culture
in
China’s
contemporary
tourism
product
are explored.
Finally
two
theme
parks designed
to “showcase”
elements
of China’s
current
policies towards culture
and heritage
are examined
in some detail. In
the context
of this paper, heritage
tourism
is broadly defined
and is
taken to mean the presentation
tovisitors
of history, culture, buildings
364
CULTURAL
and monuments,
sites of important
scapes, the arts (literature,
music,
festivals, and traditional
lifestyles.
INTERNAL
POLITICIZATION
POLICIES zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWV
past events, traditional
landdance), traditional
events and
AND GLOBALIZATION
The interface between politically driven goals of power and government, the preservation
of a nation’s cultural heritage,
sustainable
environmental
values, and tourism development
are problematic
for
many countries. In the People’s Republic of China (PRC) these issues
are fundamental
not only to the place of tradition in a society which
is modernizing
its economy at a rapid rate, but they also present
very real challenges
to the legitimacy
of the government.
A primary
cornerstone
of the ideology propounded by the CCP since its inception
in 1921 concerned the need to reject the cultural past as a whole and
its replacement
with a new Chinese
socialist culture.
Under this
policy, massive destruction
of China’s rich and varied built heritage
occurred
and there were sustained
attacks on its cultural
(living)
heritage.
This totalistic
iconoclasm,
however,
is at odds with the contemporary
embrace
of heritage
as perhaps the major element
of
China’s burgeoning
tourism product. Because of its ideological
sensitivity, the approach to heritage in its many forms has tended to be
carefully controlled
by the state; and its use for tourism has often
been driven by ideological tenets of politics (in this case, socialism as
defined by the Chinese government).
Yet in spite of the ambivalence
and complexities
which can be discerned in the attitude of the CCP
to the past, tourism and its use of heritage continues to expand as the
policies of the current leadership of China distance the CCP from its
founding roots.
The politicization
of a nation’s heritage is not new, as states everywhere may try to define or redefine culture to serve national ends.
This process of revisionism
usually has the objective of reinforcing
a
national identity or the values espoused by the government
of the
time-for
example, Singapore
(Leong 1989); Israel (Trigger
1984);
the Soviet Union and other East European countries
(Buckley and
Witt 1990); Albania and North Korea (Hall 1990); Tanzania
(Curry
1990). Few other countries
have found the need to assume such
comprehensive
control of cultural values as China. This is because
the CCP took on the daunting task of engineering
a major change of
the political,
social, and cultural values of a civilization
which had
inculcated
enduring features in these areas over a period of some
5000 years (Baum 1975; Hsiung 1970; Lin 1979; Mao 1954; Meisner
1986; Ogden 1992). Cultural values as defined by the CCP have been
critical determinants
in all areas of life in China since its assumption
of government
in 1949, from the content of education to the role of
intellectuals;
from the type of person recruited
into the CCP to the
content of movies, art, plays, operas, radio, and television; and from
rectification
campaigns and purges to appropriate forms of economic
development,
including tourism.
Examining
cultural policy and tourism in China shows that internal
SOFIELD
AND LI
365
imperatives
are much stronger
than external
forces. Those external
demands
have been harnessed
for, and in turn influence
to a degree,
the shape and form of cultural
tourism product inside China. However,
the “Chineseness”
(Ogden
1992) of the situation
in the Middle Ringdom, sets the processes
of modernization
through
tourism
apart from
the global forces which are considered
by some to impose significant
homogenization
and standardization
of tourism
products
on societconcept
(Bonniface
and Fowler
ies-the
so-called
“global
village”
1993; Crick 1989; Rosenberg
and White
1957). The relative
unity of
China as a single entity over a 4000 year period and its accompanying
“Chineseness”
(notwithstanding
the
upheavals
associated
with
and Manchu
invasion,
European
imperial
imperial
wars, Mongol
incursions,
“warlordism”,
Japanese
invasion,
civil war, ethnic minorities, Chinese
communist
extremisim,
and, most recently,
20th century
economic
materialism
and globalization)
has resulted
in a cultural
resilience
which has defied this wide range of both endogenous
and
exogenous
forces for change.
This is not to imply that Chinese
culture
has remained
static over
four millennia,
but rather that it has retained
unique
features
which
have survived
in manifold
forms. In the current
need to resolve the
tensions
between
socialism,
modernization,
globalization,
and traditional
culture,
cultural
elements
are finding expression
in the way
in which the present
government
has embraced
tourism development.
This is not to deny that there are tourism
products
in China which
reflect the global culture. The architecture
of many zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcb
of China’s
modern
hotels owes as much if not more to international
trends in skyscraper
design
and construction
than to traditional
Chinese
aesthetics,
for
example,
even if their entrances
are graced with dragons
and their
foyers lined with pearl shell panels
depicting
Chinese
epics of the
past; and a range of entertainment
parks in major cities also display
“global”
characteristics.
In contrast
to the causative
influences
adduced
for globalization,
other writers
such as Bonniface
and Fowler (1993) have argued that
local forces have been instrumental
in much tourism development
and
that local players have utilized
heritage
as a means for emphasizing
differentiation
in tourism
product
and place. Urry (1990) has viewed
the identification
of a specific image
for tourism
(e.g., Britain
as
heritage
tourism,
Switzerland
as alpine tourism,
Thailand
for tropical
cultural
exotica)
as a national
response
to counter
the homogeneity
of globalization.
Local communities,
societies,
and countries
have not
necessarily
been passive recipients
of pressures
for global conformity.
Chang, Mime, Fallon and Pohlmann
have cautioned
against
trying to
draw too strong
a distinction
between
global-local
processes.
They
believe
that much
tourism
development
is in fact a mix of both
“the exogenous
forces of global market
demands
and multinational
corporations,
as well as the endogenous
powers”
of national
authorities (1996:285).
The isolation
imposed during Mao Zedong’s
era in
simplistic
terms left many Chinese
ignorant
of global trends;
and
when this factor is coupled with the resilience
of Chinese
tradition,
the result has been a very Chinese
response
to modernization
through
tourism development.
It is accepted
that some external
economic
and
366
CULTURAL
POLICIES zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWV
market forces have intruded into the Chinese environment
but that
the dynamics of internal
processes
(historical,
political, social, and
cultural) have been paramount in shaping and determining
the integration of tourism development policy with aspects of China’s national
policies on culture. zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFED
Chinese Culture through History
In historical
terms, one of the main features of China’s domestic
tourism lies in the traditions
about travel and heritage sites established over a 4000 year period and now firmly entrenched
in the
Chinese psyche (Sofield and Li 1996). Powerful dynastic emperor-gods
stood at the apex of a religious
and political
hierarchy
in which
ancestral gods and animistic spirits resided in mountains, rivers, lakes,
and other natural features. Stretching
in an unbroken chain from the
beginnings of the Shang dynasty (ca 1350-1050
BC) to the final demise
of the emperors with the fall of the Quing dynasty and the declaration
of a Republic in 1912, each successive emperor and his court paid
homage to a wide range of gods and goddesses. The sites multiplied
over the centuries
and as Buddhism became established,
even more
sacred sites were added. Much ancient travel was thus for pilgrimage,
embedded in the beliefs of the god-kings (Sofield and Li 1996).
Under the Zhou dynasty, which supplanted
the Shang dynasty in
the 1 lth century BC, Confucianism
emerged ca 660 BC as central to
the Chinese tradition.
From this era evolved the institution
of the
Mandarins,
a scholarly class who assumed a central role in the administration of the state for the emperors. The Confucian ethic implored
the Mandarins
“ to seek ultimate truth from the landscape”
(quoted
in Petersen
1995) and their creative talents went into poetry, paintings, and calligraphy inspired by these landscapes. The courtier/ poet
as traveler became a familiar figure throughout China. The works of
Li Bai (701-762
AD) and other Tang dynasty poets and artists such as
Wang Wei (701-761
AD), despite being suppressed
during the years
of Mao, have influenced
generations
of Chinese. They are instantly
familiar
to millions of Chinese,
both in China and overseas. Such
philosophical
interpretations
of China’s historical
and sacred sites
became-and
remain today-part
of Chinese “ common knowledge”
(Petersen
1995: 143).
In Imperial times, while merchants
traveled widely and there were
mass migrations of people affected by war and natural disaster, leisure
travel was restricted
to the elite classes and their entourages.
Under
Mao leisure travel was prohibited
for all but a favored few. Today,
however, millions of Chinese visit sites immortalized
by their poets
and artists. These sites feature in such lists as the State Council’s
1988 “ State Level Scenic Wonders and Historical Sites” ; and a survey
undertaken
in 1991 by the China Travel Service of the “ Top Forty”
most favored tourism spots includes Splendid China Miniature Scenic
Spots, Shenzhen, which consists of 100 sites built in miniature in 1989,
and also the most famous of the sacred mountains,
rivers, and other
landscapes
which are visited by more than 3 million Chinese each
year, seeking out a postmodern expression of their traditional images.
SOFIELD
AND LI
367
When Western
tourists
look at the Yangtze,
they see a river; the
Chinese
see a poem replete
with philosophical
ideals. Part of the
“common
knowledge”
of Chineseness
is to recognize
representations
of the picturesque
hills of Guilin, the sea of clouds of Wu-shan
(Mount
Wu), the Three Gorges of the Yangtze
River, and the Yellow Crane
Terrace
pagoda. These images bring spiritual
unity even if the people
have never visited
them; but when they do visit the importance
of
these images is reinforced
(Sofield and Li 1996). This is exemplified
by the traditional
saying known to the Chinese
all around
the world:
“If you have not been to the Great Wall you are not a full-grown
person”.
Petersen
has suggested
that Chinese
domestic
tourism
to
such places constitutes
“a voluntary
cultural
decision
more akin to a
pilgrimage
to historical,
cultural,
and political centres”
made in order
“to validate
the poetic knowledge
of places such as the gardens
of
Suzhou”
(1995:150).
Without
having been nurtured
in the Chinese
cultural
milieu,
it is difficult
for foreign
visitors
to enter
Chinese
places with the same experiential
understanding.
It is inevitable
then,
that once tourism
became
an accepted
form of economic
activity in
China after 1978, it almost automatically
encompassed
and pursued
from built heritage
to cultural
heritage
in all its manifestations,
festivals
to traditional
lifestyles.
Internal
rather
than external
forces
have been predominant
in this process. zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQ
Socialism,
Modernization,
and Traditional
Culture
The tensions
between the variables
of socialism,
modernization,
and
traditional
culture have resulted
in extremes
of policy and upheaval
in
China
for 45 years. It was the socialist
values of Marxist-Leninism
and totalistic
iconoclasm
that Mao attempted
to impose on China in
1949. Almost immediately
the CCP government
was confronted
with
conflicting
tensions
generated
by their desire to introduce
a more
egalitarian
society
through
socialism,
their
desire
to modernize
rapidly,
and their need to rebuild
China’s sense of national
identity.
Paradoxically,
the rigidity
of socialist
ideology
was their greatest
obstacle
to modernization,
while traditional
culture
was the single
greatest
obstacle to socialism. As Ogden (1992) noted, socialist culture
in China validates
a system based on the philosophies
of Marx, Lenin,
Mao, and now Deng which are held to be scientific,
democratic,
and
revolutionary.
It criticizes
traditional
Chinese
culture
for being
unscientific,
feudal, antimodern
and antisocialist.
Yet that traditional
culture
forms the basis, of course, for the Chineseness
necessary
for
national
identity
and unity. While
socialist
ideology
proclaims
its
modernity,
it has proved
too inflexible
to encompass
many of the
values
and needs essential
for modernization,
as evidenced
by the
move towards a market
economy
undertaken
by Deng. To the extent
that some market forces of supply and demand
have had to be accepted
to accomplish
modernization
with tourism
as a major component,
socialist values have been compromised
in a limited way. But outside
the economic
realm,
the appeal of Western
models and values has
been controlled by the central leadership’s
concern for protecting
the
368
POLICIES zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVU
CULTURAL
Communist
Party and China’s Chineseness
(Ogden 1992:6). Thus,
despite the consistent
attacks by the state on tradition,
it needed
tradition and used tradition to pursue national unity. zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcba
Heritage and the Social Sciences in China Under Mao.
In considering
the place and role of heritage in tourism in China, it is necessary to
trace the control exercised
by the CCP over its definition of “ legitimate knowledge” , In October
1950, the PRC Ministry of Education
issued a manifesto
which categorized
academic disciplines
as either
revolutionary
or counter-revolutionary.
For a discipline to be worthy
of retention,
it had to be seen to be serving Marxist dogma: a discipline’s role was to provide direction
for policy to advance society
through its various stages to the ultimate perfection of communism.
The linkage
between
socialist
culture
and education
was comprehensive and complete.
In conformity
with this framework,
many of the social sciences
concerned
with heritage,
such as archeology,
anthropology,
history,
sociology, and linguistics,
as well as psychology and law, were castigated
for their bourgeois
roots, decadent
capitalist
origins, and
propagation
of Western values. During the Cultural Revolution,
the
study of the past was viewed as reactionary
and led to the destruction
of some archaeological
excavations
and the disruption
of archaeological publications
(Trigger
1984). The Soviet model became the
template for China’s academic structure,
and ethnology emerged as
a distinctive socialist discipline aimed solely at “ the study and uplifting
of minorities” .
Ethnology was viewed as a materialist
science which
could aid in the construction
of socialism
(Guldin 1992). Linguists
could also take refuge in ethnology so long as they abandoned theoretical linguistics
and focused on transcribing
the languages
of the
ethnic minorities
in China.
“ Redness”
(political
correctness,
with commitment
to ideology
being a major determinant
for appointments,
promotion,
and prescriptions for development)
was in the ascendancy over “ expertness”
and the social sciences
became
almost defunct
in the general
repression
of the intelligentsia
and academia.
From 1969-86,
for
example, humanities
students comprised on average only 6% of the
total tertiary student population (Hao 1987). At a time when tourism
studies were beginning
to find a place in West European and North
American universities,
China shunned them completely. The Cultural
Revolution was a last attempt by Mao to reinvigorate
a revolution he
believed was dying. It is beyond the scope of this paper to write even
a brief account of what Meisner
(1986:311)
has termed the most
complex and contradictory
period in China’s long history,
where all historical
analogies
fail. Rarely
openly, with all its contradictions,
events
ironies,
unfolded
scars,
in ways so strange,
and paradoxes,
and ends and marred
plagued
has any society
and disfigurations
tortuous
and bizarre
by such deep incongruities
by so large
a gulf between
revealed
itself so
and rarely have
..
with so many
between
intentions
means
and results
(1986:311).
Notably,
the Cultural
Revolution
was a massive
attempt
by Mao
to
SOFIELD
AND LI
369
inculcate
the younger
generation
of Chinese
with his ardor for totalistic iconoclasm.
At the outset,
“the four olds”, especiaily
the continuing
influences
of traditional
religions
and philosophies
and
reverence
for past imperial
dynasties-“feudal
superstitions”-were
attacked.
Since these were responsible
for some of the finest and
grandest
examples
of China’s
rich architectural
heritage,
from isolated temples
on mountain
tops to entire
cities and monumental
palaces and tombs, the unleashing
of the Red Guards led to wholesale
destruction
of heritage
sites on a massive
scale. To provide but one
example,
1000 years ago, Xian was “the supreme
metropolis
of the
medieval
world, unrivaled
by Baghdad
and surpassing
Rome” (Brown
1991). The city was originally
laid out in blocks with a Buddhist
monastery
allotted to each block, ofwhich there were several hundred.
All of these were either completely
destroyed
or severely damaged
by
the Red Guards.
Xi Wu Tai, the Five Western
Terraces,
were once a
vast collection
of Buddhist
temples
erected
on five hills in the heart
of Xian. Today, only half of one temple
remains,
the rest destroyed
by the Red Guards.
The cultural
vandalism
of Xian was but one
of many thousands
of cities and sites devastated
by the Cultural
Revolution.
The scope of the mass destruction
nationwide
was so
grave that it may never be fully chronicled. zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTS
The communist
regimes
Socialist Ideology and Tourism Under Mao.
in China from 1949 until 1978179 were unaccepting
of tourism
as an
appropriate
form of economic
activity.
Both domestic
and international
tourism were almost non-existent
(Chow 1988; Hudman
and
Hawkins
1989). Entry was strictly controlled,
and from 1954-1978
the
China International
Travel Service (set up to arrange visits by “foreign
friends”)
played host to only 125,000 visitors (Richter
1989). Tourism
activity
was held tightly
in the hands of the state machinery
and
reflected
the pattern
common
to other communist
states. The limited
foreign visitation
which existed was sanctioned
on the grounds
that
the successes of communism
could be paraded
before a selected international
audience.
Tours focused
on the material
achievements
of
communism
such as factories,
communes
and revolutionary
peasant,
and worker
communities.
Heritage
was not promoted.
Contact
between
tourists
and locals was strictly
regulated.
Segregation
in
hotels into the categories
of foreign tourists,
overseas Chinese,
Hong
Kong and Macau
Chinese,
and locals, was rigidly enforced
(Chow
1988). Tour guides accompanied
foreign tourists at all times and were
able to “quickly
and proficiently
report the great strides society and
the economy
had made under
socialism”
(Hudman
and Hawkins
1989: 178). Many of their clients were members
of the so-called “international
brethren
of socialists”
whom Hollander
(1981) described
as
“political
pilgrims”.
Most guides were trained
in the Beijing Foreign
Languages
Institutes
(the same training
ground
for China’s
diplomatic corps). They were regarded
as part of China’s diplomatic
effort
and an instrument
of foreign affairs policy (China National
Tourism
Administration
Bureau
1992). Socialist ideology prevented
the emergence of tourism
in any real sense for some 30 years after Mao’s
370
CULTURAL
assumption
rather than
POLICIES
of power in 1949: it was a propaganda
tool (Qiao 1995)
a “proper”
form of development. zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUT
Socialist Ideology and Cultural Production Under Mao.
Consistent
with
other aspects of cultural
policy, the handicrafts
sector was subjected
to “socialist
transformation”
during
the years of Mao (Toops 1993).
The years 1953-56
saw the implementation
of the policy of transferring
“backward
sectors”
such as handicrafts
from small capitalist
operations
to collectives
which would then be transferred
to state
ownership.
The 1957 “high tide of socialist
transformation”
saw the
acceleration
of cooperativization
and the elimination
of private production
of crafts.
“By 1958 and the beginning
of the Great
Leap
Forward,
there were no private
entrepreneurs
engaged
in the production
of crafts for the market.
In the handicrafts
sector, it was
argued that “Socialist
collective
ownership
is good but whole quanmin
1958 cited inToops
1993:90).
(p eo pl e p ro d UCti on ) is
’ b e tt er” (DengJie
During
the Cultural
Revolution,
the ideologically
driven
policies
motivated
attacks on many traditional
activities,
destroying
thousands
of production
units and enforcing
complete
state ownership
over surviving craft production
since cooperatives
were held to be “impure”.
Other cultural
areas were subjected
to the same ideological
tyranny.
Throughout
the decade of the Cultural
Revolution,
only eight “revolutionary”
stories were permitted;
more traditional
plays, operas,
and folklore festivals had to conform to presentations
of these themes.
DENG
XIAOPING
AND THE
“OPEN
DOOR”
POLICY
Mao died in 1976 and then in 1978, with the acceptance
of the need
to modernize
using all resources
available,
Deng introduced
his “open
door” policies
and China
took a “great
leap back” from totalistic
iconoclasm.
Given the explicit ideological
basis of the political system,
all economic
and other reforms required
substantial
modifications
of
the ideological
framework
(Mackerras,
Taneja and Young 1994). Deng
had to redefine
politics in China and while this change
of direction
undercut
some of the Maoist principles,
it was nevertheless
essential
to reaffirm
the primacy of socialism
to justify the legitimacy
and right
of the CCP to govern.
Thus, changes
had to be rationalized
in the
context of their capacity to serve socialism.
In this way, Deng was able
to rehabilitate
China’s
heritage
as a valuable
resource
which was
needed
to assist in the tasks of restoring
national
unity after the
dissension
and trauma
of the Cultural
Revolution;
and revitalizing
the economy,
in this case by making
tourism
an acceptable
form of
development.
Both of these objectives
could be achieved by combining
heritage
with tourism.
The Heritage
Conservation
Act 1982, passed by the 25th meeting
of the Operations
Committee
of the National
People’s Congress
of the
CCP on 19 November
1982, embodied
these tenets. The preambular
paragraph
states
that the Act is designed
“to strengthen
the conservation
of China’s
heritage”
and “to carry out nationalism,
to promote
revolutionary
traditions,
and
to build
up socialism
and
SOFIELD
AND
371
LI
modernization”.
The Act moved squarely
into areas
totalistic
iconoclasm,
including
within its purview:
[not only]
olutionary
Revolution,
those buildings,
sites, and memorabilia
movement
[and] . . . those valuable
associated
documents
rejected
by Mao’s
with the revrelated
to the
[but also] those ancient
cultural
sites, ancient
tombs,
ancient
buildings
and architecture,
cavern
temples
and rock engravings,
. . those valuable
artworks
and handicrafts
representative
of different
eras in Chinese
history,
manuscripts
and ancient
texts with historical,
scientific
and artistic
value; and those representative
objects which reflect the different
eras and
different
ethnic
social systems
(Heritage
Conservation
Act 1982, Article
2(i)-(v)).
The Act is comprehensive
and accompanying
regulations
cover the
classification
of all heritage
objects
into different
categories
of
national,
regional,
and local importance;
archeology
and the excavation
of sites; artifacts
in museums;
private
collections;
a permit
system for the export of artifacts;
and a bureaucratic
structure
for
managing
the conservation
of heritage.
The National
Cultural
Administrative
Management
Bureau
was established
and each province,
autonomous
region, county and municipal
(city) council was charged
with the responsibility
of setting
up its own heritage
conservation
management
organization
(Article
3 of the Act). This Act provided
the foundation
for tourism
to embrace
heritage
in its development,
as tourism
planners
in many regions
and districts
have used the
different
categories
of importance
to develop and promote
their tourism product.
Of necessity,
Deng’s reforms
spilled into policies on China’s
education system and on the ethnic minorities.
Modifications
to the education
system
were required
to provide
research,
technology,
and
training
support
for conservation
and heritage
tourism.
Those
elements
of the social sciences which were considered
able to help in
Deng’s new vision for the socialist
revolution,
gradually
re-emerged.
Thus, archeology,
cultural
anthropology,
and sociology again appeared
in universities,
although
they operated
only in those areas accepted
as appropriate.
Archeological
research,
for example,
was encouraged
as a means
of cultivating
national
dignity
and unity although
lip
service was still paid to socialist ideology by restricting
interpretation
of the past to a Marxist
perspective
of the evolution
of society and by
lauding
China’s
cultural
achievements
as testimony
to the skills of
worker-artisans
in ancient
times
(Trigger
1984). Tourism
studies
appeared
in universities
as separate
courses for the first time, with a
very strong emphasis
on China’s history, traditions,
and culture.
Policies on the Ethnic Minorities
There are 55 xiaoshu minzu (minorities)
officially recognized
by the
state. They make up 8% of the population,
totalling
about 96 million
people (Mackerras,
Taneja and Young 1994). Although
their numbers
are comparatively
small, they occupy about 65% of China’s total area.
Their territories
include
much of China’s
border areas so the min-
372
CULTURAL
POLICIES zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWV
orities enjoy a strategic importance well beyond their numbers (Mackerras 1994). Policy formulation
towards the minorities
is, therefore,
bound up in foreign affairs, defense and national security, as well as
economic development,
education,
health, social welfare, and so on.
In the confines of this paper, only policy concerning
the cultural
heritage of the minorities and its concommittant
relationship
to tourism are considered in any detail.
As Swain noted, z&o&u mintu “ are expected
to ultimately
evolve
into assimilated
members of the majority patriarchal
socialist society”
were held to be at dif(1993:37).
Under M ao, the ethnic minorities
ferent stages on the evolutionary
road to communism.
Some were
classified as “ early” into the journey and some as “ advanced” and
the thrust of economic, ethnological,
linguistic,
and other endeavor
was to “ uplift”
them and bring them out of their state of relative
backwardness
and into the “ progressive”
socialist fold as quickly as
possible. The xiaoshu minzu were thus often targeted during the political campaigns carried out in post-revolution
China, including collectivization
and the Cultural Revolution.
When Deng’s reforms were introduced, cultural diversityper se was
not actively promoted, although recognition of special ethnic interests
led to the granting
of a measure
of autonomy to some of the 55
nationalities
in an attempt to head off separatist
tendencies
under
the 1984 National Law of Minority Nationalities.
Deng was able to
assert that “ wrong” policies had been imposed and mistakes had been
made, so policies and practises more tolerant of traditional minorities’
culture were introduced. These included religious freedom, non-application of the one-child
rule, and respect
for cultural
integrity.
However, while there is a constitutional
commitment
to freedom of
religion, those practicing
religious beliefs were often suppressed and
their religious institutions
placed under heavy-handed
state control.
The control exercised
by the state on occasion has led to religious
disputes, ethnic conflicts, boundary disputes, and in some cases bloodshed, as noted in a speech to the Fourteenth
National Congress in
1992 by President Jiang Zemin. Tibetans
and Uighurs, for example,
have experienced
violence related most often to the suppression
of
their religions, the mainstay of their traditional
cultures; and unrest
continues to simmer in some of the other ethnic minority regions.
Since 1990, however, a less repressive
stance has been adopted
towards most of the minorities,
and there has been a certain growth
in the strength and vitality of minority traditions, including religions,
art and languages, rather than cultural decline, according to observers
such as Mackerras
(1994). At the same time, the unswerving commitment to socialism has been reiterated.
Jiang’s speech thus noted
that “ the issue of ethnic religion is always intertwined
with ethnic
problems” ,
but that by applying the basic principles of Marx “ ethnic
problems could be solved” (1992b:2).
The requirement
for culture to be a servant of socialist ideology, as
propounded by Mao and Deng, was also the major theme of a statement at the Thirteenth
National Congress by the Director of Cultural
Affairs, Li Zui-huan. In a 20 point list, Li subsequently
delivered to a
national meeting of artists in 1990, no less than 13 points specifically
SOFIELD
AND
LI
373
mentioned
this obligatory
aspect. Thus, the need to provide
strong
support
to distinctive
ethnic cultures
was accepted.
But it was also
stated that “the purpose
of developing
ethnic cultures
- - * is to better
demonstrate
the contemporary
spirit of socialism”.
Ethnic minorities
were exhorted
“to borrow from the old for present
use. By giving
new meaning
to old things,
they could form part of socialism’s
new
thinking”.
Culture
did not have to be subordinate
to direct political
objectives,
“but this does not mean that art can deviate
from the
political
direction
of serving
socialism”.
Ethnic
culture
had to be
compatible
with scientific
socialism
and “continuously
absorb modern
science and technology..
. to preserve
and conserve
ancient
buildings
and fragile documents
and to unearth
buried
artifacts
. . . positively
to enrich not dilute, destroy, or decrease
the values of ethnic culture”
(Li Zui-huan
1990:109-l
10).
However,
in a major departure
from Mao’s policies, Li also stated
that:
It is necessary
to create
and then protect
the right environment
to respect
and appreciate
traditional
ethnic
culture.
Fully use all ethnic
minority
festivals
to promulgate
ethnic
cultural
activities.
These kinds of cultural
festivals
have a long history involving
lots of people. Make these festivals
a
parade
to portray
the fruitfulness
of ethnic
culture
(Point
15). Cultural
education
must be started
with the young. Actively
organize
the younger
generation
in ethnic culture.
Take them to cultural
performances
and have
them participate
in the festivals.
Take them tovisit heritage
sites (Point 16).
The CCP would strengthen
its leadership
in promulgating
the distinctive
cultures
of the ethnic minorities
(Point 20) (199O:lll).
Li also stressed
that the state could not find all the resources
to
preserve
and promote
ethnic culture.
Cultural
policy had to fit in with
economic
policy. Development
assistance
needed to be sought and the
nationalities
should try to find ways to make money from their heritage. This attempt
to synthesize
socialism
and modernization
with
the preservation
of minority
traditional
cultures,
while artificial
and
strained
in some respects,
nevertheless
provided
further
encouragement
to tourism
planners
(among
others)
to find ways to “make
culture
pay”. Li provided
direct encouragement
for domestic
tourism
with his exhortation
that the Chinese
people should visit heritage
sites, cultural
festivals
and the performing
arts. As Qiao noted, tourism was developed
“to strengthen
local [ethnic]
cultural
traditions
and promote
better cultural
understanding
among people in different
parts of the country”
(1995:56).
The opening
of ethnic minority
areas to tourists was also the result
of a deliberate
policy decision
designed
to demonstrate
to the world
the diversityofchinese
culture and howwell integrated
the minorities
were (Matthews
and Richter
1991). The Report
by President
Jiang
Zemin to the Fourteenth
National
Congress
in 1992 emphasized
that
“speeding
up the economic
development
of the ethnic
minorities’
regions
would
make
an important
contribution
. . . to increasing
national
economic
development”
(Jiang
1992a).
Cultural
tourism
opportunities,
identified
as a major pathway
to improved
living standards, have been a key in bringing
minority
communities
into mainstream
tourism
development.
374
CULTURAL
POLICIES zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVU
Swain (1989, 1993) d ocumented
the involvement of the Sani minority of Lunan Yi Autonomous
County in tourism from 1949 to the
present time. Marginalized
by the Communist revolution, they appear
to have played no part in the development
of tourism to the Yunnan
Petrified Forest area for 30 years (from 1953, when the government
built a hotel on the edge of a designated
park, until the early 80s).
At that stage, the government
“ encouraged
private Sani enterprise
including Sani-run guest hotels . . . and promoted Sani ethnic tourism
by using exotic images of Sani women in native dress for diverse
product advertisements
and by marketing
Sani handicrafts
in state
stores throughout
China”
(Swain 1993:39).
By the 9Os, about 1000
Sani households adjacent to the Petrified Forest were actively engaged
in tourism, with the males employed in the service and entertainment
sectors of the industry and the women producing
ethnic art and
at sellers’ markets
carrying on “ a brisk trade in money changing”
they set up outside the major tourist hotels of Kunming (Swain 1993:
40).
Toops surveyed the interrelation
of craft and tourism activities by
the Uighur minority in Xinjiang,
noting that in 1953 there were only
11 handicraft
cooperatives
employing 456 people, but by 1958 (the
“ high tide of socialism” ),
there were 986 such cooperatives employing
41,991 people. “ Under the slogan ofshougungyushangshan [“ handicrafts
ascend the mountain” ]
these enterprises
were either organized by the
state, operating
cooperatively
or under commune
leadership.
Collective enterprises
grew steadily until the Cultural Revolution when
many units were disbanded. In Urumqi, for example, the number of
cooperatives
fell from more than 100 to 16. By 1980, the handicraft
industry had recovered and Xinjian’s
secondary light industry had a
value of production of 227 million yuan (1993:91).
Toops concluded
that:
Governmental
policy, while focusing
on the economic
aspect in handicraft
production,
has also addressed
the cultural
needs of the local people
of
Xinjiang.
The Government’s
commitment
to further
production
of ethnic
distinctive
articles
derives from both policies of development
and ethnicity.
Tourism
has developed
into a new market
for the handicraft
industry
...
such items as carpets,
atlas fabrics, musical instruments,
knives, and doppa
have become
tourist
souvenirs.
These materials
are also ethnic markers
of
the Uighur
people. A duality
in crafts production
and in the crafts market
has been created
through
tourism
requirements
(1993: 102).
Tourism has thus played a reinforcing role in maintaining
and increasing the significance
of Uighur minority ethnic crafts in some regions
of the Province.
Research by Oakes among the minority Miao of Guizhou, southwest
China, where ethnic tourism is being utilized by the state for modernization,
demonstrates
how the Han-dominated
state controls and
projects images of the Miao as primitive and exotic, “ the antithesis
of modernity”
( 1995:2 18). The political economy, while reinforcing
“ traditional”
aspects (“ selected extractions” )
of Miao culture for tourism, constitutes
a form of “ internal
colonialism”
in the “ highly contested” process of modernization
in China (Oakes 1995:216).
SOFIELD
AND LI
375
Other government-initiated
tourism projects also focus on the ethnic minorities.
By 1992, for example, overseas tourists could choose
from six different
ethnic minority
tours promoted
by the China
National Tourism Administration
such as “ The Silk Road Tour” , “ The
Sherpa Trail” , and “ The North-West
Minority Cultural Tour” (Wei
Xiaoan
1993). Another example which brings together many of the
policy themes ofLi Zui-han and the CCP is the Ethnic Minorities MiniGames. First staged under Mao in 1953, the Games were subsequently
considered
to be anti-socialist
and abandoned. Resurrected
in 1982,
and held in 1986 1991, and 1995, the Games feature a major display
of the 55 ethnic minorities’
cultural heritage
in dance, song, traditional arts, crafts and activities. Competitions
are held in archery,
different forms of traditional
wrestling, horse and camel riding, and
other sports. The fifth Ethnic Minorities
Games, held in Yunnan in
November
1995, attracted
daily audiences of 100,000, about 10% of
whom were overseas visitors. The official opening speech proclaimed
that the Games demonstrated
to the world the harmony of the ethnic
minorities as part of the one big, happy Chinese family where “ ethnic
cultures bloom” (Television
Beijing Central Broadcasting,
daily news
report, 6 November 1995).
Tibet was also incorporated
into the national tourism development
plan. State-run
tours to Tibet were designed for the same purpose.
The independent
tourist will find it difficult to obtain a visa for this
autonomous region, whereas those on a package tour run by the stateowned China Travel Service have their visa formalities
carried out for
them with a minimum of fuss. In 1989, China commenced
a five-yearlong restoration
of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, the former residence
of the Dalai Lama, in an attempt to demonstrate
its concern for, and
preservation of, minority cultures. It was opened as a heritage museum
in August 1994 in a celebration
coinciding with the Shoton, the annual
Tibetan harvest festival. Hailed by the Chinese as evidence of their
genuine regard for ethnic cultures, the opening drew fierce criticism
from the exiled Dalai Lama. Lodi Gyari, a principal adviser to the
Dalai Lama and president of the International
Campaign for Tibet,
was quoted as saying that the Chinese had turned the Potala Palace
into a monument of a vanquished
people: “ Our most sacred palace
will become nothing more than a mere showpiece of tourism for
Chinese package tours. For Tibetans it’s just another example of the
death of our culture” (Hong Kong Sunday Morning Post, 7 August 1994).
A Xinhua News Agency report (8 August 1994) refuted the criticism,
stating that many years of neglect had been rectified, and that the
Palace and its furniture,
fittings, and artifacts were assured of preservation.
The tension between the conflicting
objectives
of socialism, modernization,
and traditional
culture finds a different expression in the
opposition of minorities
to central government
policies on tourism
development.
The opening of the Potala Palace for tourism raises a
number of political and ethical issues which may impact more generally upon other Chinese ethnic minorities.
These include questions
ofpolitical
domination, forced assimilation,
and lack of empowerment,
discrimination,
and exploitation
practiced
by the majority
society,
376
CULTURAL
POLICIES zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWV
economic impoverishment,
and cultural degradation.
As seen in a
number of nations, the dominant society and its economic interests
may develop “ authentic”
tourism products and market the “ exotic”
image of traditionally-oriented
peoples motivated
by profit rather
than by any genuine concern about presenting
indigenous peoples in
a sensitive and just manner (de Kadt 1979; Silver 1993). The United
Nations, which designated
1993 as the “ International
Year for the
Indigenous
Peoples of the World” , noted that such problems
are
common to many indigenous communities
(United Nations General
Assembly resolution 46/ 128 of 17 December
1991).
China’s policies towards its ethnic minorities demonstrate
a major
concern with national security because of the strategic
location of
many of its indigenous peoples; and these concerns dominate and at
times cut diametrically
across other policies-such
as tourism development-designed
to improve the welfare of those peoples. Neverthere
are many
examples
of apparently
enthusiastic
theless,
participation
by minorities
in a wide range of tourism activities
in
many parts of China. The great diversity of minorities
and their size
(approaching
100 million)
suggest that any generalizations
about
China’s
involvement
of its ethnic minorities
in tourism
must be
approached with caution.
Environmental Policy
A brief mention of environmental
policy is necessary because it has
been one of the areas of major tension between modernization
and
the values of China’s natural and cultural heritage.
Its biodiversity
ranks eighth in the world and first in the northern hemisphere
(Tisdell
1984). Historically,
socialism has ignored the environment
except in
terms of physical resources to be exploited for the economic benefit
of the proletariat.
Under Mao’s collectivization
program in 1955 and
1956 and his “ Great Leap Forward” in 1958 (an attempt at immediate
industrialization),
enormous environmental
damage occurred. This
was compounded by China’s reliance on Soviet technology which continues in many of the huge state-owned
industrial
and agricultural
concerns today, a technology which simply disregarded
pollution as
an issue (Mackerras,
Taneja and Young 1994). The “ open door” policy,
whose primary economic
aim was swift development,
added to the
problems. China’s forest cover has been diminished annually by about
5000 km2 and in 1994 the proportion of China’s area under natural
vegetation
was substantially
smaller than in India (World Resources
Institute
1994).
The effects of air pollution, water pollution, acid rain, deforestation,
soil erosion, desertification,
etc., on heritage
sites-and
the degradation of the natural
heritage-have
been devastating
in many
instances.
Only recently have the values of ecologically
sustainable
development
(ESD) appeared
in China as the CCP policymakers
began to understand
the costs of uncontrolled
pollution and dollar“ It has become obvious within China that more
driven development:
attention
needs to be given to environmental
issues if the country’s
SOFIELD AND LI
377
economic
development
programs
are not to be stultified”
(Tisdell
1993:191).
Tourism,
however,
has been an agent in attempts
to find ways to
bridge the differences
in objectives
of modernization
and ESD since
1981. In that year, the State Council
issued the guiding
policy statement
on tourism
and the environment,
espousing
environmental
values to protect, preserve
and promote
natural
and cultural
heritage.
The report
acknowledged
the previous
lack of sound management,
poor demarcation
of boundaries,
and lack of control
over mining,
forestry,
farming,
and hunting
within designated
“Scenic Areas”.
It
called for comprehensive
research
to inventorize
the country’s
scenic
and heritage
resources
and to assess and evaluate
their quality,
especially
those of global importance
with unique values. It provided
the authority
for provincial,
city, and autonomous
regional
governments
to set up management
bodies, develop
environmental
standards, implement
conservation
regimes,
and control
degradation
in
tourism
regions
(Joint Report
1981).
While the application
of this policy has been variable
and there is
clearly considerable
room for improvement
(Tisdell
1993), tourism
has nevertheless
been given a leading
role in introducing
environmentally-sound
development.
In 1992, for example,
three
general
models for the preservation
of biodiversity
and economic
development
were introduced,
one of which was an ecotourism
development
model.
By 1993, some 350 new forest parks with a total of some five million
acres had been added to the national
tourism
inventory,
two thirds of
them since 1990 (Zhang
1995). A major component
of the “Educate
the Educators”
seminar
for 70 heads of tourism
departments
in China’s universities
and institutes
of tourism held in Shanghai
in October
1995 was on ecologically
sustainable
development
and ecotourism
(China National
Tourism
Administration
Bureau
1995). zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfed
Heritage,
Culture, and Tourism Development
In 1978, as part of Deng’s “open door” policy, the Bamboo Curtain
was pulled
aside; and while a certain
ambivalence
about
tourism
remained,
the industry
was expanded.
The first national
conference
on tourism
was held in that year to formulate
guidelines
and organizational
structures
for its development
(Gao and Zhang
1982). In
three different
speeches
in 1979, Deng emphasized
the need for swift
growth and development
of tourism
(He 1992). Politically,
tourism
was justified-for
the first time-as
an acceptable
industry
because
in socialist
terms it would advance
economic
reforms
and the policy
of opening
to the outside world, it would further friendship
and mutual
understanding
between
the Chinese
proletariat
and other peoples of
the world, and it would contribute
to world peace. It was justified
in
cultural
terms by the contribution
it could make to national
unity
through
the preservation
of folklore and heritage
sites.
It is at this juncture
that tourism
policy and cultural
policy engage
each other, one of the major consequences
of the adoption
of a national
tourism
policy
being
the restoration
and rehabilitation
of sites
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CULTURAL
POLICIES zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWV
destroyed during the turbulent years of the Cultural Revolution. Another was the utilization of tourism to bring the ethnic minorities into
mainstream
economic development
as noted previously, and a third
was the development
of cultural and historical
tourism routes. But
the decision to embrace the industry was not reached lightly because
the Chinese government
recognized
that international
tourism was
a major vehicle for modernization
which inevitably
promoted
the
penetration
of Western values and culture. Cultural policy thus came
to the fore and in this context tourism, a valuable new industry and a
potentially
large generator
of foreign exchange earnings, was to be
developed
around Chinese
culture
and tradition
to mitigate
the
impact of Western values which might pollute China’s heritage. The
politics of tourism as a propaganda
tool were thus replaced by the
politics of tourism as heritage
and combined with economic development.
Consistent
with China’s
academic
research
orientation,
considerable effort has gone into the “ scientific study” of China’s tourism
resource distribution
and development.
Zhang (1995) reviewed classificatory analyses produced by Chinese scholars, many of them geographers, and while spatial elements form the core of their schemata, a
common feature is the prominence
given to heritage.
Even when
physical features are listed (State Council’s “ State Level Scenic Wonders and Historical Sites” (China State Council 1988), and the “ Tourism Regions Scheme” of Hebei University (Shen 1993), they cannot be
divorced from their place in China’s cultural history. The mountains,
gorges, rivers, lakes, caves, and other features are all bound up in the
images-pictorial,
literary, and philosophical-created
by emperors,
Confucius,
mandarins,
poets, artists and philosophers
of past ages.
The physical features
often incorporate
man-made
elements
from
antiquity-gardens,
temples and so forth-so
that “ many of the most
scenic localities are not only a gift of nature but also the product of
thousands of years of wisdom and hard work by the Chinese people”
Scenic Area
(Zhang 1995:43). F or example, in 199 1, the Huangshan
was granted World Heritage
Site listing based on its outstanding
environmental
and cultural resources (UNEP 1991).
In Suzhou, Tiger Hill with its prominent views over the surrounding
landscapes is an excellent example of this combination
of the physical
and the cultural. The entire hill was transformed
into gardens by
Emperor Wu (500 BC) whose burial tomb is located there. Famous in
the history and poetry of Chinese
landscaping,
the gardens have
been fully restored
and developed in the last six years as a major
recreational
and tourism resource and classified as “ The historical
site of first importance
in the Wu region”
(Wu County Tourism
Administration
n.d.). The summit of the hill is crowned by the recently
renovated
Pagoda of Yun Yan Temple which is one of the earliest
brick structures
in China, having been constructed
in 959 AD. Newly
constructed
statues of Buddha have been erected
at its base and
attract a constant stream of worshippers.
The gardens of Tiger Hill
form the backdrop for regular re-enactments
of activities from the
court of Emperor Wu and every weekend the Hill swarms with thousands of visitors. Poetic stanzas have been carved into the living rock
SOFIELD
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379
of a small gorge and are highlighted
in red and blue paint. In Western
eyes, this might be regarded
as a form of graffiti and thus the antithesis of environmental
values. But for the Chinese,
the poems enhance
the cultural
significance
of the site and imbue it with profundity.
The
distinctions
which might be drawn in other countries
between
cultural
forms and physical features
are often not possible in China. Therefore,
the emphasis
on heritage
must be seen as a very Chinese
approach
to its tourism
development,
with internal
rather
than global forces
predominating.
A few examples
provide
an indication
of the rich abundance
of
cultural
resources,
their wide distribution
throughout
the country,
and government
action to combine
heritage
and tourism.
Funds were
provided
for the restoration
of cultural
sites in many places, such as
the Ming Tombs,
and the Xi’an “terracotta
army” of Emperor
Qin
Shi-huang
(only discovered
in 1974 after the Red Guards
had been
disbanded).
In 1984, Deng initiated
the “Love our country,
repair our
Great Wall” campaign,
which resulted
in major restoration
of three
large sections
of the Wall north of Beijing
(Badaling,
Mutianyu,
and
Jinshaling).
Millions of yuan were (and continue
to be) invested
in the
Great Wall to make it more accessible
to tourists.
These include
a
cable car at Mutianyu,
a new highway from Beijing to Badaling,
and
new hotels and restaurants
close to sections
of the Wall. In Beijing,
more than 250 historical
and cultural
sites have come under national
protection.
For example,
in August
1995, a major program
of restoration
for the Forbidden
City, home to 24 emperors
in the Ming
and Qing dynasties,
was announced.
Costed at more than 500 million
yuan ($65 million)
and to be carried out in stages over the next five
years, it represents
the first major work carried out on the Forbidden
City since its completion
more than 500 years ago.
Work began on hundreds
of sites across China to repair the excesses
of the Cultural
Revolution
and the government
actively sought international
assistance
for this purpose,
in stark contrast
to Mao’s closed
door policy. UNESCO
has coordinated
much international
effort,
According
to the Xinhua Neu~ zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONML
Agency (1995), French
interests
were to
donate
$1.5 million
to repair
a palace hall in the Forbidden
City.
Japan
became
a major donor in this context,
its Buddhist
heritage
giving it a particular
interest
in Buddhist
temples
and monasteries.
These included
the construction
of an Archeological
Research
Center
at China’s oldest Buddhist
shrines at Magao Grotto, Dunhuang
which
date back to 366 AD (Chan Wai-fong
1994); and the restoration
of the
Qing Long Si temple
complex
in Xian where one of Japan’s
famous
pilgrims,
Kobo Daishi, spent the year 805 studying
Esoteric Buddhism
(Brown 1991).
In 1992 the China National
Tourism
Administration
Bureau
selected 249 sites which combined
China’s
natural
and cultural
heritage
to develop and promote
as “national
scenic routes”
(Wei 1993). They
have distinctive
themes
such as the Great Wall Route, the Cooking
Kingdom
Route,
the Study Route,
and the Yangtze
River Route.
Dunhuang,
once an important
trading
town on the Silk Road, was one
of several hundred
sites designated
as “historical
cultural
cities”. One
hundred
and sixteen projects were designed
to turn Dunhuang
into an
380
CULTURAL
POLICIES zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWV
international
tourism center. Quanzhou, in southeast China’s Fujian
Province, received a similar designation.
It has 38 historical sites and
cultural relics under state and provincial government
protection and
a further 2 12 under the city council’s protection. Restoration
had been
completed on 40 of the most important sites by December
1994.
As work has proceeded, access for tourists to a wide range of Chinese
cultural heritage sites has been approved. Under Mao, less than 12
cities were open to “ foreign friends” . One year after Deng “ opened
the door” , 60 destinations
were open; by 1984 there were 200; and by
1987, 469 cities and destinations
were “ approved”
for foreign visitation (Richter
1989). That figure had doubled by 1992 to 888 cities
and counties (Wei 1993). Domestic visitation has also increased dramatically-further
evidence of the Chinese desire to seek out and
experience for themselves the famous heritage sites of their “ common
knowledge” .
The relaxation
after 1978 of Mao’s strict control over
tourism
(which was enforced
through the imposition
of a permit
system for the purchase of a train or bus ticket and accommodation)
has been the key factor in the growth of domestic tourism.
Within the new context, physical sites have been rehabilitated
in
China’s rapid move to embrace
heritage
as a major component
of
tourism. Traditional
festivals, religious ceremonies
and pilgrimages,
classical plays and re-enactments
of historical
events have all been
revived around the country. These stand as statements
of culture,
community
identity, or religious affiliation,
and as tourism events
manifesting
the Chineseness
of the occasion for both domestic and
overseas visitors. In 1993 the CNTA identified 40 festivals and celebrations
that could serve to promote tourism
@hang
1995). Pilgrimages to sacred sites and religious ceremonies
by both domestic
and overseas visitors are commonplace.
As Swain noted in her review
of Chun-fan
Yu’s film on the Buddhist
Kuan-yin
Pilgrimages,
“ religious tourism is a big business in China and it is here to stay”
(Swain 1992:161).
Other festivals have also been “ recycled” , such as the G&h Chin or
Chrysanthemum
Festival of Xiaolan (Siu 1990). This was celebrated
every 60 years to mark the founding of the city several centuries ago.
In the past, the festival was a domestic affair organized by the city’s
clan associations,
landlords, and merchants for Xiaolan’s residents. It
was last held in traditional
form in 1934 when China was ruled by
the Kuomintang.
The values underlying
the Festival-of
upholding
ancient
superstition,
of perpetuating
and venerating
traditional
culture, of reinforcing
the leadership roles of the lineage associations
(feudalism),
and of a “ capitalist”
pursuit of wealth-were
abhorrent
to the socialist, scientific philosophy of Marxism; and when the city’s
Revolutionary
Council decided to hold a chrysanthemum
festival in
1959 to celebrate
the 10th anniversary
of the Revolution, it was redesigned to “ fit” Maoist principles (Siu 1990).
In 1979 and again in 1994, the festival was restaged. In 1979 it was
designed to demonstrate
that under Deng’s “ open door” policy, the
Chinese government
was serious about economic reform, and potential investors from Hong Kong, Macau, and other overseas Chinese
communities
were invited. Some 140,000 visitors attended the Festival
SOFIELD
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381
(Siu 1990). In 1994, the 16th anniversary
again came round and the
city put an even greater
effort into a much grander
festival.
Two
formerly
forbidden
elements
were major components:
tourism
and
real-estate
marketing.
The Xiaolan
City Council
blatantly
exploited
the city’s heritage
for financial
gain. The China Travel Service highlighted
the festival
in its global marketing.
More than one million
visitors
(many thousands
from overseas)
were attracted
to the Gokh
Chin. Once “captured”,
the visitors were then exposed to an estimated
$20 million worth of condominium
developments
for sale which had
been constructed
along the avenues where the mass chrysanthemums
were displayed.
The manner
of staging
the Chrysanthemum
festival
in 1994
emphasized
the continuing
transformation
of China from a socialist,
centrally
controlled
economy to a more open, capitalist-oriented
economy. It exemplified
the key role which tourism
is playing
in the
dynamics
of change in China, change which allowed the festival to be
organized
in 1994 in bold contradiction
of orthodox
CCP ideology.
Similar scenes are being repeated
in many cities and towns throughout
China as tourism
expands
almost exponentially.
Ashworh
and Tunbridge (1990) and Richards
( 1996) h ave noted a similar close linkage
between
cultural
and economic
values in examining
European
heritage tourism.
Heritage Theme Parks
Two sites which reflect different
aspects of the policies of the CCP
on tourism,
heritage,
and ethnic minorities
have been developed
during the past seven years at Shenzhen,
a new city in Guangdong
Province near the border with Hong Kong. One is called “Splendid
China
Miniature
Scenic Spots”
and the other is called the “China
Folk
Culture
Villages”.
Both theme parks were constructed
by the stateowned China Travel Service (CTS) in partnership
with a Hong Kong
registered
company,
China Travel International
Investment
Limited.
The activities
of the CTS are directed
by the Overseas
Chinese Affairs
Office of the PRC State Council.
The State Council
directed
CTS to
invest in, develop and manage
“Overseas
Chinese Town” in Shenzhen
in 1985. This is “a comprehensive
development
which incorporates
export
industries,
commerce,
trading,
real estate,
tourism
and culture” (China Travel International
Investment
1993). If the original
objective
was to entice international
visitors to China, domestic
tourism has, in fact, overwhelmed
both sites.
The Splendid China Miniature Scenic Spots. This theme park opened
in September
1989 and features
miniatures
of the best known scenic
spots in China, occupying
an area of 3.27 km’. There are “about one
hundred
scenic wonders
. . ., which are the epitome
of China’s
longstanding
history, brilliant
culture,
beautiful
scenic heritage
and rich
historical
sites”. No memorial
to the peasants
and workers of ancient
China,
the park depicts
such built heritage
as “the world’s biggest
palace”
(the Imperial
Palace);
“the world’s largest Buddha”
(the Le
382
CULTURAL
POLICIES
Shan Grand
Buddha
Statue);
“the world’s most splendid
building
located at the highest land above sea level” (the Potala Palace);
“the
world’s longest rampart”
(the Great Wall of China);
and many more
palaces and temples
such as the mausoleum
of Genghis
Khan and the
mosque
of Emperor
Xiang
Fei (Splendid
China
Miniature
Scenic
Spots 1994). More than 50,000 Lilliputian
ceramic figurines
“inhabit”
the various
“spots” and again the emphasis
is not on the lifestyle
of
the peasant
and worker as Mao would have insisted,
but on scenes
such as the wedding
ceremony
of Emperor
Guang Xu in the Imperial
Palace,
a memorial
ceremony
to Confucius
in his family
temple,
emperors
praying
for good harvests,
an imperial
funeral,
and astronomer mandarins
at work in the world’s oldest “Ancient
Star Observatory”.
In addition
to the built heritage,
there are 12 miniaturized
heritage
landscapes
such as the Three
Gorges of the Yangtze
River, Mount
Taishan,
and the Yunnan
Petrified
Forest. There are also 11 ethnic
village scenes. These latter depict minority
village life with peasants
engaged
in tilling paddy, fishing, constructing
a new dwelling
or, in
the case of the Mongolian
grasslands,
festive activities
such as archery,
wrestling
and horse racing. The theme park is a window into China’s
history,
culture
and heritage.
Since its opening
it has consistently
attracted
3 million visitors per year, of whom around
500,000 (about
15%) have been overseas
visitors.
It stands in stark contrast
to the
edicts of Mao to annihilate
the past and the failed attempt
of the
Cultural
Revolution
to blot out China’s
heritage
from the national
ethos. It is consistent
with the government’s
post-Mao cultural
policies
to promote
national
identity
by drawing
upon its heritage
in full
measure.
At the same time, it pays lip service to the role of the peasant
and worker with its depiction
of village scenes. It is also consistent
with Deng’s pragmatic
“open door” policy and the perceived
need to
develop
the potential
of the tourism
industry
to maximize
income
generation
and assist in the economic
development
of China. It draws
heavily upon the research
of academics
in related
fields (archeology,
history, anthropology,
etc). It may thus be said to be making a positive
contribution
to the socialist objectives
of the CCP.
Another
theme
park, the China
Folk Culture
Villages
covers an
area of 2.38 square kilometres
and opened in August
1991 to present
the architecture,
folk arts (music, dancing,
craft work) and culture of
23 of the ethnic minorities.
It contains
features
such as houses and
other buildings
of the Bouyei people, the Dong, the Jingpo,
the Miao,
the Yao, the Yi, and the Zhuang
minorities,
a Tibetan
house and
lamasery,
yurts from Inner Mongolia
and Kazakstan,
the Tuija overwater market
of Xianju,
Buddhist
pagodas
from Nanfeng
and the
Dai autonomous
region,
a mosque
from Uighur,
and many other
attractions.
In its first full year of operations
1992, almost 4.3 million
visitors (of whom 790,000 were from overseas and Hong Kong) toured
the park (China Travel International
Investment
1993).
Several of the dwellings
have been transported
from their original
sites and re-erected,
authentic
in origin but now of course located in
a composite
village
of 23 other
nationalities
rather
than in their
original
homogenous
cultural
setting.
Other
buildings
are replicas
SOFIELD
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383
which closely follow traditional
architecture,
construction
methods,
and materials
such as the Uighur house and the thatched-roofed
Hani
compound.
Artifacts
within
the buildings
are usually
the genuine
(authentic)
article and are positioned
as they would be in their source
home; but they may be displayed
under neon lights with a waterproof
concrete
floor underfoot
(such as the fittings and floor coverings
inside
the camel-felt
yurt of the nomadic
Kazaks).
The “inhabitants”
in the Folk Culture
Villages
theme park are all
of the appropriate
ethnicity.
An important
criterion
for selection
is
that they should
not have been out of their villages
before being
employed
in Shenzhen,
in order to portray
authentic
behavior
unpolluted by external
influences.
They demonstrate
traditional
skills such
as the manufacture
of artifacts
according
to traditional
methods
utilizing traditional
materials,
sing traditional
songs in their own languages, play a wide range of traditional
musical instruments,
and dance
and present other aspects offolklore
(camel riding, acrobatics,
cooking
local dishes, and so on). These, according
to the management,
“faithfully portray the life, customs,
and conditions
of different
nationalities
in the villages”
(Shenzhen
Splendid
China
Development
1994).
However,
all the “inhabitants”
are aged from 18-25 years, and may
be described
as vibrant
and beautiful.
Middle-aged
and elderly people
are conspicuous
by their absence.
Some of the activities
(such as
dances and ceremonies)
have been modified for presentation
to tourists, most obviously
in the evening
Grand Parade
involving
all of the
ethnic minorities,
so that much of the original
form and meaning
is
lost. It is also assumed
that the craft and other skills accumulated
through
years of practise
are absent
in most of the young people.
Therefore,
the quality
of the presentations
must be interpreted
in
this context
as well as whether
any trivialization
has occurred.
The
end result is a mix of the authentic
and the artificial.
In briefly considering
the question
of authenticity
of the Culture
Villages,
one is immediately
confronted
with a variation
of what
Bonniface
and Fowler
have termed
“the
moving
object
story”
(1993:121).
In their view, this relates
to artifacts
such as paintings
and statues which have been removed from their original geographical
and cultural
milieu to an alien context.
The object remains
authentic
but its context is not, which raises the question
of authenticity
(Swarbrooke
1994). In the Culture
Villages,
the validity
of this question
is exposed
by the expressed
policy which guided
its construction:
“Originating
from real life but rising above it, and discarding
the dross
and selecting
the essential”
(Shenzhen
Splendid
China Development
1994). Paradoxically,
both reality and unreality
have been heightened.
This kind of mix of entertainment
and education,
of authenticity
and
fabrication,
has been seen by some commentators
as a manifestation
of postmodernism
(Urry 1990). For Eco (1986: 1) it is “hyper-reality”.
Nuryanti
has suggested
that “postmodern
tourists
use the power of
their intellect
and imagination
to receive and communicate
messages,
constructing
their own sense of historic
places to create
their individual journeys
of self-discovery”
(1996:250-251).
In this context,
the
Folk Culture
Villages
theme park could be described
as “a semiotic
system whereby
a set of signs marks the displays
as authentic,
both
384
CULTURAL
POLICIES zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWV
with respect to the markers themselves
and to the outside world”
(Harkin
1995:653).
In the quest for authenticity,
the buildings and
the material items form the backdrop for people as objects, and to the
visitors they are engaged in (not acting) their “ traditional”
lifestyles in
“ authentic”
environments.
Visitors will eagerlyjoin
the young dancers
from Turkestan
in a whirling dervish, and the dance will be not one
whit the less authentic
for the onlookers for having non-Turkestan
dancers in its midst. The relationship
of marker to tourist, of authentic
to cornmodified actuality, is highly dynamic.
In the case of the Miniature
Scenic Spots theme park, there is a
simultaneous
fusion of the authentic
and the marker for Chinese
tourists. The reality of the Great Wall of China is accepted as zyxwvutsrqponmlkjih
readily in
the miniaturized
reproduction
in Shenzhen as in the abstract images
known through the poems and paintings of China’s ancient scholars.
Chinese tourists will pose for photographs
in front of the Shenzhen
small Wall in such a way that it dwarfs them as does the real Wall;
and the photographic
image is presented
as evidence of an authentic
experience.
Yellow Crane Terrace,
immortalized
in Li Bai’s poem of
farewell 1,300 years ago, is eagerly sought out by Chinese visitors to
the theme park. In viewing the miniaturized
reproduction
the “ common knowledge”
of the image created by Li Bai asserts itself, it is at
once familiar and yet new. The reproduction
is “ consumed” ,
in part
through Li Bai’s interpretation
as if it were the orginal, in part as a
Lilliputian
tourism object signifying the original; and the result is a
post-modern expression of the original providing an authentic,
albeit
different, experience
from the original. It is an example of Nuryanti’s
“ individual journey of self-discovery”
coupled with a re-affirmation
of the Chineseness
of the participant
observer. Where MacCannell
(1976:44)
considered
the distinction
between authentic
original and
mechanical
reproduction
as essential to the marking of an authentic
tourism object or sight (its “ sacralization” ),
to the Chinese the “ aura
of the original”
(Benjamin
quoted in Harkin 1995:653)
may imbue a
reproduction
of a famous site, object or event and thus produce a
tourism experience
in its own right. As Harkin noted “ What is considered the authentic
sight, versus the tourist marker, is not necessarily fixed” ( 1995:653).
If one returns to the global-local
nexus, there is a perception that
global market demand has contributed
to the development of both of
these theme parks in Shenzhen.
Certainly
the more recent construction of the “ Window of the World” , a third theme park in Shenzhen with its Eiffel Tower from Paris, miniaturized
Basilica of Rome,
pyramids of Egypt, White House from Washington
DC, Taj Mahal
from India, Borobodur Temple from Indonesia, Serengeti Game Park
from East Africa and Sydney Opera House from Australia
(among
many others),
may be viewed as a direct response to these forces.
The geographic proximity of Shenzhen to external markets from the
gateway of Hong Kong has facilitated
their access for international
visitation.
But the Folk Culture Villages and Splendid China Miniature Scenic
Spots theme parks are not simply responses in the first instance to
the forces of globalization.
As noted, they are expressions
of the
SOFIELD
AND LI
3x5
“common
knowledge”
of Chineseness
and serve essentially
internal
Chinese
objectives
in terms of strengthening
cultural
identity
and
economic
development,
with lesser emphasis
on being objects for the
touristic
gaze meeting
purely touristic
ends. They are experienced
by
6 to 8 times more Chinese
domestic
visitors
than overseas
Chinese
and more than 20 to 30 times other overseas
visitors.
This is an
important
distinction:
while Chinese
are participant
observers
and
“experience”
the theme
parks,
non-Chinese
“look at” them. The
parks may, however,
legitimately
be interpreted
as part of a certain
“globalization
of ethnicity”
(Robins
1991: 131) and as such constitute
what Chang zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
et al refer to as “interaction
between
global processes
and local forces” where “the celebration
of indigenous
cultures
and
emphasis
on local identity
has become a global ‘best practice’
among
urban and tourism
planners”
(1996:301).
In political terms, the Folk Culture Villages theme park embodies the
essence of CCP policy towards democracy,
religious freedom, and support
for ethnic cultures,
designed
to demonstrate
to its own population,
and
the world, the tolerance
of Chinese socialism. The Tibetan lamasery and
the Uighur mosque are religious buildings only in terms of their original
purpose
and are now displayed
as a political
symbol as well as for
the touristic
gaze. The theme park “showcases”
the integration
of the
minorities
into the one happy Chinese cultural
family and the unity of
the Chinese peoples. It promotes,
and in doing so preserves to a certain
extent, the arts of the ethnic minorities
as dynamic
elements
of their
different cultural heritages. It draws extensively
upon the work of cultural
anthropology.
It serves the dual purpose of being both educational
and
entertaining.
The requirement
that culture
should serve socialism
is
achieved
through
the “soft sell” approach:
heavy-handed
ideological
exhortations
to work for the glory of China, or posters extolling
the
virtues of socialism, are non-existent
in the park. To the extent that the
Folk Culture
Villages serves the ideologically-determined
objectives
of
the Chinese state, the theme park may be said to be propagandist.
That
is a legitimate
political function
in the Chinese context. However, it is
also a successful theme park in its own right, providing a high degree of
visitor satisfaction
and returning
a profit for its owners (Shenzhen
Splendid China Development
1994).
CONCLUSION
Under
Deng’s “open door” policy, tourism
has become one of the
fastest
growing
sectors in China’s
drive to modernize.
This growth
has been fueled largely by domestic
tourism
with the China National
Tourism
Administration
Bureau
estimating
that
more
than
360
million
trips were made in 1993 (Qiao 1995). This figure has been
projected
to reach 700 million by the year 2000 (Wei and Feng cited
in Zhang 1995). Cultural,
historical
and religious
attractions
are major
destinations.
To borrow a phrase from anthropological
research,
the
” of attractions
for Chinese
dom“participant
observation
experience
estic tourists,
embedded
in Petersen’s
(1995) sense of cultural
pilgrimage,
Chineseness
and common
knowledge,
consititutes
a strong
refutation
of Boorstin’s
denigration
of the nature
of attractions
as “a
386
CULTURAL
POLICIES
new species: the most attenuated
form of a nation’s
culture”
and “of
little significance
for the inward life of a people . . .” (1964: 103). There
is a better “fit” with MacCannell’s
(1976) view that the consumption
of a tourism
attraction
invests
it with meaning
and a perception
of authenticity
even where cornmodification
has raised barriers
to
authenticity,
where global demand
has modified
and blurred
the distinction
between
the cultural
and the economic.
For many Chinese,
the act ofvisiting
their famous sites may be akin to Urry’s (1990) view
that tourism
itself is an expression
of culture.
However, while the pace of cultural
revival and conservation
activity
has increased
dramatically
in the past five years, there is a degree of
unevenness
in the application
of conservation
measures.
In some areas
there exists an “implementation
gap” (Dunsire
1978) between
the
rhetoric
of policy and the reality. Provinces,
counties,
and cities have
been swift to draw up lists of heritage
sites, but a break has occurred
between intent and result. It is not now as great as Tisdell found during
his fieldwork in 1989 when he noted that “comparatively
speaking
the
provision,
upkeep,
restoration
and preservation
of tourist attractions
has been neglected”
(1993:173).
But the devolution
of responsibility
to implement
the 1982 Heritage
Conservation
Act to the different
levels of local government
(Article
3 of the Act) and the fact that
“The costs of conservation
and management
of the nation’s
heritage
treasures
are to be included
in national
and local budgets”
(Article 6
of the Act) have resulted
in patchy
efforts,
especially
where local
finances
are not great.
Authenticity
also appears
to be a flexible notion, and the manipulation of festivals and other cultural
events to serve economic
interests
without due regard to their cultural
integrity
has resulted
in the loss of
heritage
quality and educational
value: spectacle
and entertainment
seem to be rated more highly. During visits to more than 100 heritage
sites in China between
1993-95, the authors
discovered
that on close
examination
many of the restorations
of buildings,
statues,
and other
artifacts
had been carried
out with contemporary
materials
such as
reinforced
concrete,
steel bolts and plastic,
disguised
to look like
ancient
timber,
hand-fired
bricks or stone carvings.
As with Singapore’s
planning
for heritage
conservation
(Teo and Huang
1995),
in many instances
heritage
in China has been commoditized
to the
point where a balance
with historical
and sociocultural
veracity
has
been lost. There is a certain “museumization”
of the ethnic minorities
in the idealized
presentations
of their culture
for tourist consumption
which also raises issues broader than authenticity
and extends into the
difficult
questions
of cultural
integration,
assimilation
and political
control. Environmental
issues are only now being considered:
addressing ecologically
sustainable
development
in a serious and nationally
comprehensive
way is still in a distant
future.
The China National
Tourism
Administration
Bureau
is aware of
these deficiencies,
but some of the provincial
tourism
authorities
do
not appear to appreciate
the need for a code of heritage
values such
as that adopted
by Japan.
There,
in terms of built heritage,
comprehensive
legislation
“mandates
the recovery of the original
structure” and “a combination
of exemplary
scholarship
and meticulous
SOFIELD
AND LI
387
craftsmanship
produces
heritage
monuments
that are highly authentic by prevailing
international
professional
standards”
(Ehrentraut
1993:270).
To paraphrase
Hulstman
(1995),
the intrinsic
values
associated
with the immense
richness
of China’s
history and culture
are in danger
of being ignored
at the expense
of the extrinsic
value
of the income derived from heritage
tourism.
Because
tourism
has embraced
cultural
heritage,
and yet must
serve the country’s
goals of modernization
and at the same time
remain
true to socialism,
tourism
development
in China
is highly
politicized.
Unraveling
the continuities
and discontinuities
in China’s
cultural
policies over the past four and a half decades
is a necessary
prerequisite
to understanding
the nature
of China’s development
of
tourism,
its presentation
of China
to the outside
world since the
communist
revolution
in 1949, and its growing contribution
to internal
stability.
Because
of the political
determinism
of the CCP and its
quest to maintain
power, echoes of the ambivalence
and ambiguity
towards
China’s
heritage
which Lin identified
in 1979, remain.
Yet
cultural
policy
has undergone
significant
modification
to find
expression
in tourism.
The dominant
role that heritage
currently
plays in the country’s
tourism
product
is in stark contrast
to the
totalistic
iconoclasm
promoted
by Mao and the mass destruction
of
heritage
which occurred
during the Cultural
Revolution.
Tourism
policy formulation
has had to contend
with the centrifugal
tensions
of socialism,
modernization,
and traditional
culture,
while
providing
the CCP with an avenue
to reconcile
at least some of
the contradictions.
The process has involved
far more than mental
gymnastics,
for the issues have been fundamental
to the legitimacy
of
government
by the CCP in China and have thus penetrated
to the
core of politics. As President
Jiang Zemin stated in his address to the
Fifth Plenum
of the 14th Central
Plenum
of the CCP held in September
1995, “Stability
is the premise
for development
and reform,
and development
and reform
require
a stable
political
and social
environment”
(Xinhua
News Agency
9 October
1995). The CCP
believes
that only it can provide
that stability.
Therefore,
the CCP
has been obliged to balance
the ideological
necessity
of maintaining
the purity of socialist
ideology
to uphold the legitimacy
of the CCP
government
with the pragmatic
concerns
of developing
the economy,
and with appeasing
the strategically
important
minorities.
Culturally
the CCP has pushed
Han heritage
as national
heritage,
promoting
national
unity through
a presented
common
heritage.
The tourism
industry
has demonstrated
a capacity
to assist in all
three cultures:
i.e. it is increasingly
important
to national
economic
growth (modernization),
and its capacity to incorporate
heritage
in a
meaningful
way has assisted
in bringing
the minorities
into mainstream
development.
In terms of the educational
system in China,
tourism
has provided
added legitimacy
for some areas of academic
endeavour
which in the past had been banned,
and also contributed
to its modernization,
with the adoption
for the first time of tourism
diploma
and degree courses in universities.
It has also been utilized
by the CCP as avehicle
to advance environmentally
sustainable
values,
particularly
in respect of cultural
heritage.
388
CULTURAL
POLICIES
Tourism, in short, has provided various contradictory
forces and
interests in China with a means of reconciling at least in part their
different objectives and satisfying to some extent their different aspirations, even if that contribution
is difficult to measure accurately, and
contradictory
perhaps as a global force of modernity. But it has not
always been deliberately
formulated
policy which has granted this
role to tourism; Chinese government
policies on culture and tourism
were not originally issued and developed under the same historical
and political framework. In the past decade, however, both have come
together to some extent and found expression in tourism outcomes.
In this a major force has been the strength of the Chineseness
of
common knowledge about a great many sites around China. There
is, as Petersen
(1995) has commented,
a strong sense of “cultural
pilgrimage” in much domestic tourism in China. Thus while endogenous forces have been the major factor in China’s contemporary
dual
embrace of heritage and tourism, there is a nexus between globallocal processes and this interaction
is evident in some of the diverse
forms of China’s contemporary
heritage tourism. c] q
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Submitted
28 November
1995
Resubmitted
3 September
1996
Resubmitted
18 May 1997
Accepted
12 August
1997
Refereed
anonymously
Coordinating
Editor: Margaret
B. Swain