In China, as tourists come, culture goes
By Mitch Moxley
JIAJU, China - In 2005, the National Geographic China magazine named this
ethnic Tibetan village in western Sichuan province, sprawled over a valley amid
snow-capped mountains, China's most beautiful. Depending on how you look at it,
that distinction was either a blessing or a curse.
During the national day holiday in October, middle-class Chinese tourists from
Sichuan's capital, Chengdu, and beyond, literally crawl over this "Model
Tibetan Village", as a regional brochure puts it. For an entrance fee of 30
yuan (US$4.48), tourists wander through locals' multi-storey stone homes and
pose for pictures on rooftops decorated with drying corn.
On almost every rooftop, alongside faded Tibetan prayer flags,
flies the red and yellow flag of the People's Republic of China.
"It's beautiful," a young woman from Chengdu, visiting with five friends, says
of the village. "It's not that famous yet, like Shangri-la or Lijiang, but it's
getting more popular."
Shangri-la and Lijiang are among the most popular tourist destinations in
China's southwest, home to a good number of the country's rich mix of ethnic
groups. The old town of Lijiang is also a United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage Site.
The village of Jiaju has no doubt benefited as a result of tourism - there are
few signs of poverty and many villagers own new cars and sports utility
vehicles. But tourism has also impacted the surrounding environment and changed
the fabric of the village. Indeed, Jiaju embodies many of the issues China's
minority regions face as the country's internal tourism industry grows.
Fueled by growing middle-class and government support, China's tourism industry
recorded a 9% jump in revenue in 2009, to 1.26 trillion yuan ($189 billion).
This year, total revenue is expected to reach 1.44 trillion yuan, a
year-on-year jump of 14%, according to state media.
As Chinese grow wealthier and become better traveled, many are seeking more
authentic experiences than tour groups can offer. These tourists, armed with
Gore-Tex outerwear and telephoto camera lenses, are beginning to visit China's
remote regions - many populated by minority groups - including Sichuan, Yunnan
and Tibet.
Wang Huigui, who works for an international company in Beijing, is an example
of this new breed of traveler. Wang, who calls himself a "lao lu" -
seasoned traveler - travels solo and has been to Sichuan's Tibetan region five
times, and Tibet proper four times.
"I come every year to these areas. I like taking pictures," Wang says atop an
ancient Tibetan tower in the town of Zhong Lu, a less-traveled village about 20
minutes drive from Jiaju. "I'm very interested in China's minorities - their
history, their culture, their language."
Li Fei, a manager at state-controlled China Shan-Shui Travel Agency, which is
affiliated with the Ministry of Land and Resources, says interest in trips to
the Tibetan Autonomous Region had skyrocketed in recent years. He says the
agency receives up to 70 and 80 applications to visit Tibet every day, and will
accommodate about 2,000 tourists a year.
"They love Tibet," Li says. "The feedback we get is very positive. They think
the lakes and sky are really clean."
In China, however, appreciation of minority cultures can quickly turn to
exploitation. The country is home to a growing number of minority-themed
tourists parks, such as the Dai Minority Park in southwest China's Yunnan
province.
There, villagers are forbidden from making major changes to their traditional
wooden-stilt homes and are paid to perform a daily water-splashing ritual for
which they are famous. The real water-splashing festival normally lasts just
three days a year. The park, owned by and catering to majority Han Chinese,
welcomes a half-million tourists per year.
The most famous minority park in China, Beijing's Nationalities Park, for years
featured English signs with the unfortunate translation "Racist Park". In many
parks, the ethnic minorities featured are actually Han Chinese dressed up as
natives.
In minority villages, the idea is to provide a more authentic experience. But
in places like Jiaju, a Disneyland-like atmosphere persists, and the local
culture adjusts to fit Han preconceptions.
Jiaju, once an isolated mountain village, was introduced to the world after a
1998 visit by a Hong Kong traveler, who persuaded a local family to turn their
home into a guesthouse. Within a few years, dozens of neighbors followed suit,
converting their homes or building new hostels from scratch.
Soon, tour buses began clogging the winding road to town. Logging and
home-building stripped the surrounding mountainside, bringing dangerous
landslides. Trash began piling up in ditches around town.
He Ming, the director of Yunnan University's Research Center of Ethnic
Minorities in China's Southwest Frontier, says increased tourism helps foster
development of minority regions and increases local incomes. For Han tourists,
the experience of visiting minority regions provides a valuable cultural
exchange that promotes goodwill between China's different ethnic groups.
But He says that governments at the federal and local levels must take steps to
protect the rights and interests of the minority cultures, rather than exploit
them to accommodate Han tourists.
"These cultures are unique, and an invasion of different cultures will destroy
them. Furthermore, with an increasing number of tourists pouring into minority
regions, the local governments commercialize the cultures, and even religious
practices are changed," He says.
"Every coin has two sides," the tour operator Li says. "Profits from the
tourism industry have poured into the minority regions. At the same time,
cultural assimilation occurs. We make sure to tell tourists the local customs
and taboos before their departure."
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
