Tourism As an Industry in Heritage Site—A Case Study on World Heritage Site of Fujian Tulou
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Apr. 2014, Volume 8, No. 4 (Serial No. 77), pp. 499-508 Journal of Civil Engineering and Architecture, ISSN 1934-7359, USA D DAVID PUBLISHING Tourism as an Industry in Heritage Site—A Case Study on World Heritage Site of Fujian Tulou Xiaomei Zhao School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Beijing 100044, China Abstract: Cultural heritage is seen as a cultural capital. The heritage tourism increases the local employment and income, however, brings some problems at the same time, changing the traditional living way and industrial structure. The sustainability of economic development by tourism is also questioned. Fujian Tulou is a world heritage site in China, inscribed in 2008. The nomination has brought great changes to the sites, especially the flourishing tourism industries by the local communities as well as the tourism companies. The latter also take part in the management of the heritage site and get most of the income. The data in economic areas is analyzed in this study and explains the cultural tourism as a positive drive for the local economy, which contributes little to the life of locals. With the analysis of the changes and benefits from the tourism, we have found that tourism, as a dominant industry, might be a potential negative element for heritage conservation. According to the different situations of sites in Fujian Tulou, a proper planning of management is in need to integrate the tourism, conservation and development. Key words: Tourism, industry, cultural heritage conservation, Fujian Tulou. 1. Introduction defend their enemy, combined with the building traditions of the indigenous [1]. Tulous are of Fujian Tulou is a world heritage site in China. multi-story structure and inward-looking. Each Tulou means “earthen house” in Chinese, and it is a building was built to house a large family, each core kind of vernacular architecture in southeastern China, family of which lives in a vertical unit of the house. especially in Fujian Province. Fujian Tulou is a With the growth of population, this large family might particular type of communal living and defensive build another Tulou, so built the relation of mother organization, known as “a little kingdom for the and son between these two houses. family” or “a bustling small city”, which houses up to The floor plan of Fujian Tulou is circular or square. 800 people in one building. The circular buildings are seen as a mature style The nominated buildings (Tulous) are located in ten which remedies the defects in structure of square villages or towns of three separate counties, belonging buildings. Tulou could also be classified by the form to two cities (Fig. 1). They are constituted of 46 of interior space. In some buildings, each core family buildings, of which some are single buildings while has their own entrance and stair, while others share others are in clusters (Table 1). These houses were their transportation space with corridors linking all the constructed between 15th to 20th century, of which household (Fig. 3). In the courtyard of the building, four buildings were constructed in Ming dynasty (AD there might be some public buildings for all the 1368-1644), 24 in Qing dynasty (AD 1644-1912), residents, such as the ancestral hall, the school or the seven in Republic of China (1912-1949) and 11 after salon. Tulou and its environment function as the 1949 (Fig. 2). They were built by the Hakkas to living, working and amusing places for the residents. Fujian Tulou is not only an exceptional example of Corresponding author: Xiaomei Zhao, Ph.D., lecturer, unique building traditions but also a living heritage research fields: conservation of cultural heritage and architectural history. E-mail: [email protected]. interprets the local community culture. It presents a 500 Tourism as an Industry in Heritage Site—A Case Study on World Heritage Site of Fujian Tulou Fig. 1 Location map of Fujian Tulou. Source: Nomination Documents of Fujian Tulou. Tourism as an Industry in Heritage Site—A Case Study on World Heritage Site of Fujian Tulou 501 Table 1 Fujian Tulou in the world heritage list. City County Name Amount of buildings Serial number Chuxi Tulou Cluster 10 1 Hongkeng Tulou Cluster 7 2 Longyan Yongding Gaobei Tulou Cluster 4 3 Yanxiang Lou 1 4 Zhengfu Lou 1 5 Hekeng Tulou Cluster 13 6 Tianluokeng Tulou Cluster 5 7 Nanjing Zhangzhou Huaiyuan Lou 1 8 Hegui Lou 1 9 Hua’an Dadi Tulou Cluster 3 10 farming culture in the mountain areas. The lineage nomination in 2008, the number of tourists coming to organization keeps its power, unites the community the heritage sites of Fujian Tulou has increased and continues the local culture with the traditional dramatically (Fig. 4), which promoted the local faith of the ancestor worship. The local community tourism industries. The heritage tourism revenue has plays a key role in the cultural continuity as well as the conservation of heritage, including the intangible traditions, the tangible buildings and their environment. 2. Changes after Nomination Fujian Tulou was not well-known, and the local community kept their own pace of life, continued with their traditions. However, tourism has brought huge changes in the sites after nomination. 2.1 Tourism Development after Nomination The title of “world heritage” has always been Fig. 2 Nominated buildings of Fujian Tulou in different chased by tourists in and out of China. After periods. (a) Separate entrances and stairs for each family, (b) Shared corridors of the whole buildings, Yuqing Lou in Chuxi Cluster Shanqing Lou in Chuxi Cluster Fig. 3 Two different forms of interior space of Tulou (photo by Y. Jia, 2011). 502 Tourism as an Industry in Heritage Site—A Case Study on World Heritage Site of Fujian Tulou 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 500 0 Fig. 4 Tourists to Fujian Tulou in 2003-2009 (thousands of people). Source: Yongding Bureau of Cultural Relics, Nanjing County Yearbook, Hua’an Bureau of Culture and Sports. increased and therefore contributed to the local GDP governments and tourism companies (which also (gross domestic product). For example, the tourism belong to the governments, except the tourism revenue of Nanjing County in 2008 reached nearly company in Hua’an County) make the major body of four times as the previous year, and was 5.1% of the the management system, in which lacks the voice of local GDP, tourism revenue of Hua’an Cluster was the local community. The result is that it contributes over 30 million RMB (around 4.4 million American more to the local economic indicators, not to the life dollars according to the prevailing exchange rate) in of local residents, who is the core community of the 2009, 65.0% of the county’s total revenue [2]. heritage [3]. As a favorable factor for the local economy, the The management systems lead to different effects to tourism is welcomed by the local government. the heritage sites, both in heritage conservation Tourism companies are introduced to the heritage (including the intangible aspects) and tourism sites to manage the Tulou tourism together with the development, which will be talked in the following government and local community. part. At the same time, there exist some conflicts There are three independent management systems between different counties in the tourism competition, in the three counties where situated the nominated especially between Nanjing and Yongding, which are buildings. The 23 buildings of five villages or towns close geographically. It is not good for the regional in Yongding County are managed by the Bureau of sustainable development. Culture Relics of Yongding Government and the 2.2 Changes in Local Industry Structure Hakka Tulou Tourism Development Co, Ltd.. The 20 buildings of four villages or towns in Nanjing County The local industry structure has been changing, are managed by the Site Management Committee, the caused by the development of heritage tourism. The Bureau of Culture of Nanjing Government and the tertiary sector (service occupations) has increased a lot tourism company. The three buildings in Dadi village and become a large part of the local industry structure in Hua’an County are managed by Municipal Bureau in Yongding and Nanjing Counties; while in Hua’an it of Culture and Sport of Hua’an Government and the has no obvious change (Fig. 5). Tourism Development Company [2]. The The local community used to engage in farming, Tourism as an Industry in Heritage Site—A Case Study on World Heritage Site of Fujian Tulou 503 6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 (a) Yongding County (b) Nanjing County (c) Hua’an County Fig. 5 Industries changes in Nanjing, Hua’an and Yongding Counties. Source: Research on Conservation of World Cultural Heritage and Economic Development of Heritage Sites. supporting their life and shaping their culture. Tea County, Changjiao (Huaiyuan Lou and Hegui Lou) producing was another important industry in the area, and Tianluokeng in Nanjing County. But Yanxiang which was the main source of income and enriched Lou and Hekeng are two exceptions, the former has the local culture as it provided more funds and no residents living there, and young people all go out opportunities to hold cultural events. These traditional in the latter as no local industries could be continued industries, together with handicrafts and aquaculture, due to the protection requirements of the nominated have been developing throughout the history, paying buildings. attention to the nature and getting the harmony 2.3 Changes in Living Way of Local Community between the built and natural environment. New modes of productions have been developing The living way of local community has changed, ever since the society changed.