A Study on Sustainable Tourism Development in Chinese Historic Towns and Villages

本研究试图厘清世界文化遗产云南丽江古城中国的旅游业所面临的问题。审查了现有土著社会(少数人称为Naxis人)和多数民族--临时居民--从事与商业旅游有关的活动的方式。结果，人们发现，近年来，历史建筑的使用发生了巨大的变化。目前，超过90%的商店是以游客为导向的纪念品商店和餐馆。此外，超过50%的店主是临时居民，主要是汉族人，绝大多数是从原住民那里租房间的。这些发现表明，随着旅游业的发展，土著少数民族的居住地及其文化正在迅速变化。作者将文化遗产旅游的开发方式分为两种模式。一种是由外而内的方式，即以满足游客的需求为主，同时牺牲当地的文化特色。另一种方式是由内而外的方式，这意味着当地社区遵循自己的增长原则，游客进来主要是为了欣赏和学习当地的智慧。我们以丽江市保护建筑的现状为例，对这两种方法进行了考察。在这座著名的中国世界遗产城市，约140座重要的乡土建筑在形式和使用上都面临着严重的旅游化转型压力。我们调查了这些建筑，发现它们的用途发生了戏剧性的变化，并伴随着形式、布局和装饰风格的相关变化。我们进一步回顾了政策体系，发现乡土建筑的这些变化是由于缺乏适当的保护政策体系地位，缺乏足够的财政援助，以及缺乏充分的技术支持。

This study attempted to clarify the issues facing the tourist industry at the Old Town of Lijiang, Yunnan Province, China, a World Heritage Site. The ways in which both the existing indigenous society (a minority known as the Naxis) and the majority peoples, temporary residents, engage in commercial tourism-related activities were examined. As a result, it was found that, in recent years, the usage of historic buildings has drastically changed. At present, over 90% of shops are tourist-oriented souvenir shops and restaurants. Furthermore, over 50% of shopkeepers are temporary residents, mainly Han Chinese, with a large majority renting rooms from indigenous owners. These findings suggest that the location of the residences of the indigenous minority and its culture are rapidly changing as tourism develops.The authors categorize the development approach of cultural heritage tourism into two patterns. One is the "outside-in" approach, which means to dominantly satisfy the tourists' needs while sacrificing the local cultural character. The other approach is the "inside-out" approach, which means that the local community follows its own growth principle, and tourists come in mostly to enjoy and to learn from the local wisdom. We examine the two approaches by taking the current status of protected buildings in Lijiang city as a case study. In this famous Chinese world heritage city, some 140 important vernacular buildings face serious pressure of tourism oriented transformation both in form and in usage. We investigate the buildings and find they have changed their usage dramatically, accompanied with relevant changes in form, layout, and decoration styles. We further review the policy system and find that these changes in vernacular buildings are due to lack of proper standing in conservation policy system, lack of sufficient financial aid, and lack of full technical support.