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Local Participation and Cultural Inclusion: A Case Study on Lunang’s Tourism Development in the Context of Policy of Partner Assistance to Tibet1

Yang Minghong, Liu Jianxia, Zhang Yingwei

( Sichuan University, Henan University of Finance and Economics )

The term Lang is a place name, it means “Dragon Valley”, “fairy place to live” in the Tibetan language. In 1911, the Qing dynasty officer Chen Quzhen was posted here, stationed in Lunang Dongjiu. He later described the Lunang area as a place “covered with grass, rocks blocking the way”.2 Since the National Highway 318 was built in 1954, at the altitude of 3,700 meters, Lunang has become the gateway to Bayi town, which is about 80 kilometers from Lunang. The natural beauty of Lunang has made it a tourist town along the Sichuan- Road Line. In 2012, Guangdong Province, designated by the central government to be the PAT to Tibet（ Chi:duikou yuanzang) provider for , targeted Lunang as a major

1 Research on Mode Optimization of Development Aids Facing Needs of Farmers and Herdsmen, National Foundation of Nature Science (No.71273183); Aluation on Livelihood Policies in Tibet, the Research Foundation of Sichuan University (No.skqy201129). 2 Quzhen, Cheng, Qiu Ye Cheng Meng, LhasaPeople’s Press of Tibet, 1999. (陈渠珍：《艽野尘梦》， 拉萨：西藏人民出版社，1999年出版) 20 tibetology No 2, September 2016 Local Participation and Cultural Inclusion ... 21 recipient of its assistance. According to local officials, Lunang was to be built as an “international tourist town”. Accordingly, Guangdong Province invested ¥790 million through its Tibet Funds, while also bringing in the Poly Group, the Hengda Group, the Pearl River Investment Group and the China Tourism Investment Group etc., with a total investment of 1.7 billion yuan. The total investment of more than 2.5 billion yuan project covers an area of 10 square kilometers: east to the Tashikang Village-Namai village tourist road, south to Na mulin village, West to the Dong Jiu Village Farm field, and North to Tashikang Village.3 In May 2015, our research group conducted research into this project. The first question our research focused on was: to what extent were local people involved in the project? Was this project inclusive of local culture or not? We raised these questions because it is very common in China that a tourism development project separates itself from local culture, both in the interior provinces and in border minority areas. We have seen that, in the process of tourism development, there is the very real - sometimes unavoidable - possibility that local culture and local participation are neglected. More striking is that, in the case of the “Lunang International tourist town” which is a major aid project from Guangdong, the “outsider” is not only the financial provider but also the major developer. One hypothesis we aimed to test was if this fact would result in a low level of local participation, a lack of respect for the local culture, and a lack of inclusiveness of local culture. In other words, our hypothesis was that, compared to tourism development projects in general, Lunang international tourist town project might be particularly prone to these issues because of the important role of outsider development companies. The next question in our research was: what are factors which impacts local participation in the tourism development project? The purpose of this paper is to investigate local participation and cultural inclusion in the development Lunang international tourist town. We argue that tourism development project is an economic development process that depends on inclusion of culture factors, and it must be implemented on the basis of respect for the local culture. Cultural inclusion needs to be achieved through the participation of local residents.

I. Background The background of the Lunang tourism project includes the feasibility of the project, the necessity of local economic restructuring after the state’s logging ban, and the central government’s strategy of building productive industries in Tibet through developmental assistance.

3 http://www.doc88.com/p-2052060244479.html 20 China tibetology No 2, September 2016 Local Participation and Cultural Inclusion ... 21

1. Lunang’s Tourism Value Situated in deep forests, Lunang is a typical meadow corridor on high-altitude mountains. The area is about 15 kilometers long, with an average width of 1 km. Known as the Switzerland of the Orient, Lunang is rich in tourism assets, including a variety of landscapes of glaciers, mountains, alpine valleys, meadows, forests, rivers, lakes, plants and animals. It is surrounded by the Yigong National Geological Park, Lunanglinhai, Namjagbarwa, the De Mu temple ruins, the Di Mu cliff inscriptions and dozens of beautiful natural landscapes. What is more, within two hours’ drive eastward, one can arrive at Bomi to enjoy the site of Caccin, the ZePu, GuoRuo glaciers, westward up to Gongbujiangda (Kong-po rgya-mdav) to enjoy boating on the lake, southward up to the Mainling (sman-gling) county to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Nan Yi valley. At the end of the tourism line that connects Wuzhai village of Lunang township to Mirui, Lunang is well connected with the other tourism lines of east Nyingchi county. Lunang’s tourism value is not only reflected in its natural landscape, but also in the convenience of transportation and of providing a “gateway” to Bayi Township and . There are 13 villages under Lunang’s jurisdiction, with 288 households and a total population of 1333 people. The local people are mainly engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry, the collection of forest mushrooms and other economic activities. The town is famous for a local specialty called “stone pot chicken” and local products such as various fungi. Travelers on the Sichuan-Tibet road eat and buy some special local products. Since 2000, villagers in Lunang and surrounding villages such as Tashikang, Norbu, and Dongbacai, have opened family hotels. After 2006, Lunang tourism has experienced considerable growth, with 70,000 tourists in 2012, 80,000 in 2013, and 90,000 in 2014.

2. Ban on Logging Logging bans are a major source of pressure to economic restructuring in Nyingchi, including Lunang. Nyingchi is the site of one of the largest natural forests in our country; logging was one of the important income sources for the local people. In 1998, Tibet started to implement the logging ban policy, and the former logging-based economy began to fade in the eastern Tibetan region. Local farmers and herdsmen’s forestry-based livelihoods have changed. In 2003, in order to further protect the ecological environment of Nyingchi, the local government issued a policy of total ban on logging, and gave subsidies to the people who lived in the forest region. Forest logging bans have made local government and residents lose an important source of income, but the rapid development of Nyingchi tourism has provided an 22 China tibetology No 2, September 2016 Local Participation and Cultural Inclusion ... 23 alternative opportunity for development. Related statistics show that compared to 44000 people 10 years ago, in 2014 the number of tourists in Nyingchi area4 reached 0.62 million people. In 2014, the number of tourists in Nyingchi has reached 2.8 million people, netting 2.6 billion yuan in tourism revenue.5 Nyingchi’s tourist industry also brings considerable income to the local farmers and herdsmen. In 2014, people who engaged in tourism services in Nyingchi has exceeded 10,000, promoting local employment for more than 30,000. Among them, farmers and herdsmen involved in tourism reached more than 4,600 people, By opening family hotels and farmhouse, providing tourism related services and, selling local specialties, they have become part of the tourist industry, with annual per capita income reaching around 4,800 yuan.6 In this context, the local government and residents were encouraged to actively seek alternative industries after the logging ban. A favorable ecological environment, rich local culture and convenient transportation led local governments and residents to expand on tourism.

3. Building Productive Sectors in Tibet The Third Central Work Forum on Tibet, held in 1994, initiated the national policy of developmental assistance to Tibet. Under this policy, an interior province would be responsible for the development of its assigned target sub-regions in Tibet,, for providing aid and for periodic rotation of developmental personnel. Guangdong province was assigned to provide PAT to Nyingchi, specifically “four counties and two farms” (Nyingchi County, Bomi County, Medog County, Zayul County, Zayul farm, Yigong farm). From 1994 to 2014, Guangdong Province provided two decades of assistance to Nyingchi, including a total of 2.912 billion yuan in investment and 844 projects, such as municipal programs, transformation of rural areas according to the government’s development objectives, grassroots governance, science-education- culture-health sectors and local specialty industries.7 Since the seventh round of Guangdong’s assistance for Tibet (July 2013), it intensified capital investment in Nyingchi, with a goal of 1.48 billion yuan and 116 aid projects.8 Guangdong is one of the first provinces to implement reform and opening policies in post-Mao China. Hence its development is at the forefront of China. Compared to other places in China, Guangdong is most reform and market oriented. At the same

4 Nyingchi Prefecturte, consisting of Nyingchi County, Gongbo Gyamda County, Mailing County, Zayul County, Nang County, was changed into Nyingchi Municipality in 3 April 2015. 5 http:// xz.people.com.cn/n/2015/0710/c138901-25539189.html 6 http:// travel.ifeng.com/news/detail_2014_12/08/39710172_0.shtml 7 http:// xz.people.com.cn/n/2014/0918/c138901-22359639.html 8 http:// www.linzhinews.com/new/lzyw/3616.shtml 22 China tibetology No 2, September 2016 Local Participation and Cultural Inclusion ... 23

time, Nyingchi possesses the best natural conditions in Tibet and the highest in per capita income levels. Guangdong and Nyingchi are thus positioned to form an optimal partnership, i.e. “the rich help the rich”. This not only means that the level of economic development is much higher than in Qamdo, Ali, and other places of Tibet, but also contributes to uneven development within Tibet. As a model of PAT, the Guangdong–Nyingchi partnership manifests the so-called “Guangdong spirit”. That is, achieving the highest level of productive developmental assistance for Tibet, by focusing on ecological tourism, local specialty agriculture, livestock farming, and Tibetan medicine in Nyingchi. Since the beginning of the seventh round of assistance for Tibet, Guangdong increased capital investment, and focused on improving Tibetans’ livelihood, paying attention to assisting Tibet in productive industries and human resources. In fact, Guangdong places particular emphasis on productive investment in its seventh round of PAT, a total of 36 productive projects and748 million yuan in investment, accounting for 50.5% of its total aid investment of 1.48 billion yuan.

CaiJiahua (the leader of Guangdong’s seventh round of PAT to Tibet): Right now the idea of assisting Tibet is to “ focus on Tibet’s livelihood, paying attention to aid Tibet in productive sectors and human resources”. We should change the old way of aiding Tibet by “giving” blindly. Of course, that old way can win people’s support, but the biggest disadvantage is the formation of Tibetan dependence on outside aid. For example, when Lunang township was promoting the expansion of model villages, the development funds came from the state’s fiscal funds. Because of limited funding at the time, we planned to use state funds on the construction of the main roads in the village, while the side roads leading to individual households would be their own responsibilities. However, the farmers and herdsmen involved did not agree to this. If they constructed the side roads in front of their own houses, they wanted the state to compensate them. That is, they developed a sense of entitled dependence on state support and aid assistance. Another example: When we fixed threshing surfaces for farmers and herdsmen, the government allocated 5000 yuan for each threshing floor. However, the wealth of the villages did not seem to justify this extra spending. The per capita income of these villages was over 10,000 yuan, higher than the national average. A village household usually had over 20 yaks, or at least over a dozen. In addition, the Nyingchi region is covered with abundant forest resources, with income from the forests reaching 4,000 yuan per capita, 30,000 to 50,000 yuan for an average family and 80,000 to 90,000 yuan for a wealthy family. Many farmers and herdsmen have savings in the bank, totaling several millions of yuan for a village. They also enjoy free public schools hospitals run by the government. Do these villages need government funding to fix their 24 China tibetology No 2, September 2016 Local Participation and Cultural Inclusion ... 25 threshing floors? Therefore, improving the livelihood of farmers and herdsmen does not mean “ just giving”. What of aid should we provide to Tibet? I think that we must help develop more productive mode of production to raise efficiency and income. (Source: Interview, May 2, 2015)

II. Project Design: From family hotels to the Lunang international tourist town The project of building the Lunang international tourist town is supported by Guangdong Province, under the auspices of its PAT program for Nyingchi, Proponents of this project included officials from Guangdong. The local farmers and herdsmen were not involved too much in the conception at this stage, where project conception was mostly done by local elites and officials who helped officials from Guangdong to understand the social reality of Nyingchi and Lunang.

1. Family hotels in Tashikang village There used to be a small-scale tourism before the Guangdong team came to Tashikang village, which was discovered by them, so they came to the opinion that there was a great potential for further tourism development in Lunang. For example, since the completion of highway 318 in 1954, tourists from outside have stayed in Tashikang Village for accommodation, and more family hotels have sprung up since the forest logging ban in 2003. The third round of assistance helped the local farmers open family hotels, and brought a total of 2.26 million yuan in investment, including infrastructure such as signage, village cement roads, footpaths, parking lots, public toilets, performance halls, etc. In 2008, the fifth round of assistance built a folk culture museum in the village which has further improved the tourism facilities. The sixth round of assistance invested ¥3 million to build the villagers’ committee office in 2011. The three rounds of funds reached a total amount of ¥8.06 million, along with another 1.6 million from National Tourism Administration, the Tibet Tourism Bureau and Poverty Alleviation Office, making Tashikang Village a favorable environment to run family hotels. From 2003 to 2009, 23 family hotels had been built.

Table 1: Guangdong’s PAT to Lunang Town Tashikang Village Year Round Invested funds Content of construction 2003 Third round ¥2.26 million Signage, village cement roads, sidewalk, parking lots, public toilets, performance halls, etc. 2008 Fifth round ¥2.8 million Folk performing hall, Tibetan restaurant and parking lots 2011 Sixth round ¥3.0 million The villagers committee office source：Zhang (2011). pp.20 and interviews 0n 2 May 2015. 24 China tibetology No 2, September 2016 Local Participation and Cultural Inclusion ... 25

The initiatives in Tashikang Village soon radiated out to other villages such as Luobu and Dongba, inciting inhabitants to engage to open family hotels, sell souvenirs, rent out riding horses. A total of 113 families were engaged in the tourism business in 2015; these families were reporting an increase of cash income. These developments constitute the background against which the “international tourist town of Lunang” was planned.

Table 2: Family hotels in three villages in Lunang, 2014 Number of Authorized Number of Name family by Tourist Number of beds Tourist income tourists hotels Administration Tashikang 60 54 727 4500 ¥3 million Luobu 30 30 352 - ¥2.23 million Dongbacai 18 18 - - - Total 108 102 - - - Note: “-” means no data available. (Source: Calculated from Lunang Bureau of Tourism published data, May 2015)

2. The Construction of Luobu, the “Model Village of a well-off life” The construction of a model village laid the foundation to the conception of the “international tourist town of Lunang”. In early 2005, Nyingchi declared as a main objective to build a “moderately prosperous society”, and “set a good example, promote well-off life”, to highlight that unique synergies between natural environment and local spiritual culture make Lunang a perfect environment for tourism development, and finally to promote modern and stylish forms of tourism. As a typical tourism development pattern in Nyingchi, Luobu village was included in the construction of 10 “well-off model villages” in Nyingchi County. The total investment of 3.23 million yuan (excluding labor and subsidies to local people) was specifically designated to build “well-off model villages” in Tibet. The project ran from October 2012 to April 2013 and included the construction of a service center, roads, ditches, pedestrian trails, image walls, cobblestone paving, wooden railings, retaining walls, landscaping, hardening, grass brick, water intake and reservoirs, and mill maintenance.9

3. The fifth Round of Dongguan Aid Team’s Blueprint Guangdong’s assistance for Tibet has been a determining factor for the start of the “Lunang international tourist town” project. Guangdong Province’s Dongguan Prefecture was assigned to give PAT to Nyingchi County, and they sent Cai Jiahua,

9 http://www.jszhaobiao.com/bz-notice-c-28849514. html; http://www.projectbidding.cn/zaobiao/ gongsi/20120926/1032351876.html 26 China tibetology No 2, September 2016 Local Participation and Cultural Inclusion ... 27 who was appointed as the vice party secretary of Nyingchi Prefecture for that period, and Zou Jianhua, the deputy secretary and Executive Vice Mayor of Nyingchi County. Those two from the most economically developed city in China, were mostly concerned about the economic development. Nyingchi, known as “The Jiangnan of Tibet”10, possesses fine natural conditions for growing crops. The local officials focused on the development of agriculture and animal husbandry in Nyingchi. However, after investigating the status of economic development in Nyingchi, Cai Jiahua and Zou Jianhua developed a different view. They came to the conclusion that Nyingchi has great potential in tourism so that they recommended a strategy aiming Nyingchi County’s transition towards an economy based on the service sector, notably tourism.

Cai Jiahua: The original thought of Lunang international tourist town was my idea. When I came to Nyingchi, I found it has rare natural landscapes, snow- capped mountains and marshlands of vertical landscape, along with unique Tibetan culture and abundant ethnic customs. However, these high-quality tourism resources are isolated, not developed. I was shocked that people here “only know farming but have no ideas about tourism” . High mountains and deep valleys of Nyingchi blocks the agricultural output. It is less competitive without intensive development. At the same time, in order to promote the exchange and integration between local and hinterland people, we should update the concept of development; find the path for local development, developing local tourism and achieving the initial targets of our partners in Tibet in the shortest time by productive assistance. Thus, we made the decision to enter the tourism industry. I visited 30 of 67 administrative villages and towns. Through research and everyone’s opinions, we finally formed the idea of an international tourist town of Lunang. The reason why we chose Lunang is that it has beautiful natural sceneries, snow-capped mountains and idyllic sceneries and it is also the important tourism distribution center in Nyingchi; secondly, the transportation there is very convenient, Lunang is in the middle of Sichuan-Tibet 318 highway which is the China’s most beautiful highway and the only route from Bomi to Nyingchi. (Source: Interview on May 2, 2015)

Regardless of the origin of the ideas that make up Cai Jiahua’s plan, it is important to highlight the decisive role of Cai Jiahua and his Dongguan assistance team in the planning and implementation process. According to the investigation, the proposal had not been approved by local officials and residents when the team first submitted

10 In China, “Jiangnan” is used as a term to designate a place with particularly favorable conditions. 26 China tibetology No 2, September 2016 Local Participation and Cultural Inclusion ... 27

the idea to Nyingchi County Committee and the government. To persuade local officials and residents became an important task for his team. The investigation shows that CaiJiahua began a “lobbying” tour in 2010. He started with the contributions to revenue from tourism, then moved on to the way to wealth, and people had finally reached a consensus on taking the tourism as the leading industry. After Nyingchi County gradually realized the significant effect of tourism on local economic and social development, it restructured the Tourism Bureau and set up a Tourism Development Committee as the administration department of local tourism development.

III.Project Design: From the exit of the “foreign company” to the entering of “local company”

1. The “foreign company”exits from the design In 2011, Guangdong Province and the jointly decided to put the “Nyingchi Lunang international tourist town” project as a key development aid project, proposed to build a “ecological, spiritual, peaceful, modern and stylish international tourist town by highlighting its Tibetan culture”. Usually, foreign design company are hired for tourism development in mainland China. Similarly, on January 4, 2011, the US International Leisure and Entertainment Promotion Company Leisure Ques (LQI) was hired as the planning designer of Lunang international tourism town.11 On April 19, 2011, LQI completed the preparation of a legally-binding land-use plan for the Lunang tourist town site and held an acceptance meeting in Nyingchi County. President of LQI design company Mark A. Driscoll proposed that “Lunang project aims at building the world leading and the largest tourism distribution center in southeastern Tibet with the highest standards and multiple functions”. Professor Chen Keshi, director of the China Urban Design Research Center of Peking University attended this meeting. Although the meeting adopted the LQI Company’s plan, their design did not incorporate the local culture due to the lack of culture understanding, The blueprint of Lunang International tourist town can be reflected from a speech by Zhu Xiaodan, the governor of Guangdong Province, at Lunang town groundbreaking ceremony in 30 March 2013. In his speech, he proposed to “build Lunang into an international modern tourist attraction but still tranquil, holy and idyllic with its featured culture and local custom.” Zhu continued to refuse LQI’s plan, arguing that the plan had not taken these principles into account. On May 16, 2011, the Governor of Guangdong Provincial Zhu Xiaodan conducted an investigation in Lunang, he did not

11 http://www.leisurequest.cn 28 China tibetology No 2, September 2016 Local Participation and Cultural Inclusion ... 29 agree with the concept and the design of LQI and thought that the plan did not reflect the respect and inclusiveness of local culture. Zhu also emphasized the need to “highlight the local ethnic culture, with full respect for the living habits of Tibetan people”. It is worth noting that during the investigation someone recommended to include the China Academy of Urban Design of Peking University which is also the designer of post-disaster reconstruction of Shuimo town in Wenchuan County (Sichuan). It was suggested that its participation in the plan and design of the Lunang project might alleviate the problem of lack of inclusion of Tibetan culture. Zhu Xiaodan showed strong interests in Professor Chen Keshi. The rejection of the foreign company’s plan by Zhu Xiaodan can be regarded as the start of putting high value on the Tibetan culture of Lunang project. The new design’s characteristics are as follows: Firstly, Professor Chen Keshi was hired as the chief architect with full authority to overall coordinate of the town’s planning and engineering design, as well as the quality control of architectural and landscape design; secondly, the design company was changed, and the China Reconstruction Institute of Urban and Architecture Design was charged with the overall plan and design, the building scheme and the landscape design, Peking University China Center for urban design was hired as chief advisor of the planning and design.

2. The entry of the “local company” Professor Chen Keshi and his team made major modifications through several rounds of investigations. November 5, 2011, the planning group led by Professor Chen Keshi completed the overall plan of Lunang international tourist town and held a review meeting in Nyingchi. During the preparatory phase, Zhu Xiaodan met Professor Chen Keshi for 16 times in debriefing of Lunang international tourist town design, and in- depth exchanged views with the team of China Reconstruction Institute of Urban and Architecture Design. On April 28, 2012, Zhu Xiaodan invited Professor Chen Keshi to meet in Guangzhou, where they exchanged views on the modification of the plan. Zhu Xiaodan expressed his high recognition of the idea that the local Tibetan culture needed to be respected, and further emphasized that the construction of Lunang needed “highlighting the local ethnic culture, with full respect for the living habits of Tibetan people”. During our fieldwork, we learned that in order to gain ideas on how the local cultural characteristics and traditions could be preserved under the condition of market economy, Professor Chen Keshi often went to private houses and communicated with local farmers and herdsmen to acquire a deeper understanding of the local Tibetan culture. Finally, Professor Chen Keshi’s participation has confirmed building a spiritual and idyllic town in a Tibetan way; and it should show “the culture of South-Eastern Tibet”, its architecture should be planned to be in the “Gongpo architectural style”. These findings indicate that in its first stage, the design of Lunang did not value 28 China tibetology No 2, September 2016 Local Participation and Cultural Inclusion ... 29

the local culture because it was mainly designed from an international perspective. By realizing the importance of local culture, they combined the project design with the local culture, and added the local residents’ opinions into it. In order to better highlight the Tibetan cultural characteristics, making Lunang town a place where visitors around the world can explore Tibetan culture, the design focused on Tibetan elements on architecture and landscape design, hoping to create a spiritual atmosphere. Meanwhile, in order to show an artistic and original modern town to the world, China Reconstruction Institute of Urban and Architecture Design Company focused on the application of new technologies, new materials and new methods, not only improved the level of urbanization and optimized urban functions in Lunang, but also provided a high quality leisure tourism environment. In February 2015, along with the general completion of the main project in Lunang, the Party Secretary Hu Chunhua of CPC Committee of Guangdong Province, and the Governor of Guangdong Province Zhu Xiaodan led the delegation to Nyingchi to inspect the results. In Lunang construction site, Secretary Hu Chunhua praised the town’s design was combined with the local natural and human factors, which elevated the project onto a higher political level. Then Governor Zhu Xiaodan hold an Lunang international tourist town conference. He listened carefully to Professor Chen Keshi’s report on recent progress in this project and highly appreciated the achievements and progress of the design. He specifically indicated that Professor Chen Keshi should be responsible for the design, and all materials must be checked by Professor Chen himself to ensure the final artistic effect. In addition, the headquarters of the program was located in the Luobu village, the design team of Professor Chen Keshi also lived in there, it was in this place we met Professor Chen Keshi and projects commander CaiJiahua. By a spot observation, everyone in the headquarters lived in Rob village; they went to local farmers and herdsmen’s homes in their spare time, listened to their ideas and other demands of local villagers on the project.

IV. Project Construction: From passive participation to active participation

1. The passive participation of local farmers and herdsmen According to the preliminary design, the construction of Lunang township including building public institutions such as the government, hospitals, schools, public securities, etc. and also commercial and entertainment areas with functions of local products sales, entertainment, and travel agencies. In this international tourist town, one can find everything one needs, from hostels to star hotels. But the ambitious tourism 30 China tibetology No 2, September 2016 Local Participation and Cultural Inclusion ... 31 development project of Lunang and the noise next to the village made the villagers in Tashikang very nervous. They were afraid of customer loss and they were passionless about the project and never embraced an active involvement.. The aid team of Guangdong soon realized this situation. They had a quick action and rounds of communication with the villagers to convince them of the project’s benefits. Gradually, Local villagers came to an understanding that the project was good for running family hotels, and they started to take an active part in the project.

Dolma Kelsang (villager from Tashikang): It is the government’s idea to have this project, we are very worried of having such a large project here, their accommodations will be better than our family hotels. For us, that means a future decrease in customers. However, the officials’ speech made us understand the benefits of this project: it can improve the environment of our village, thus motivating us to improve quality and service of our hotels. The integration Lunanglinhai tourism zone, Niyang river scenery, Midui glacier and other fine tourist attractions can attract a huge amount of visitors to Lunang, and some of them may choose to stay in family hotels. This large project may also attract other industries to Lunang therefore provide us with jobs and opportunities. (Source: Interview on May 2, 2015)

2. Local Monopoly on excavation and sale of sand Sand is the basic material for building projects; therefore selling sand to construction companies or building teams is a very profitable business. Relevant data shows that the construction of Lunang international tourist town requires a total of 65 million cubic meters of sand. Sand is excavated locally and one has to be local to do this business. Some local wealthy families bought large trucks and engaged in transportation; others made money via sand excavation.

Dolma Tsering (villager from Tashikang): In addition to family hotels, my husband drives a truck, transporting sand to the Lunang construction site from a place nearby, and now (May 2015) sand sells for 65 yuan per cubic. Normally I do not work on the construction site, because selling sand is more profitable and much easier . Cai Jiahua: According to mandatory provisions on construction engineering, including aspects of project bidding, qualification of bidding enterprise, etc, bidding companies need to pay the deposit for participation, the bid winner needs to pay the project funds in advance itself, and requires for engineering technicians., Local farmers and herdsmen cannot meet those requirements, and cannot get involved in this construction projects directly. As stipulated in regulations of the Tibet autonomous region government, we distribute the civil construction with low technical content to 30 China tibetology No 2, September 2016 Local Participation and Cultural Inclusion ... 31

local farmers and herdsmen, such as filling embankment which providing front-end engineering services to the construction of the project. This kind of work was taken by local residents completely. Roughly estimated, the work undertaken by local residents is worth 60 million yuan. (Source: Interview on May 2, 2015)

With deep interviews I was told by Cai Jiahua that Local residents participated in the project construction mainly through transport, the sand trade, fill embankment and other manual work with no technical abilities required. There were about 300 local able-bodied people in Lunang town, the number of people who participated in the project was just 20 as labors to earn income, which is a very small proportion in term of direct participation. However, many villagers were involved in the construction of Lunang International Tourism Development Project in the way which villagers sold sad and stone, and they have earned cash income about 60 million RMB in terms of monetary value.

3. Brickyard in forms of joint venture and Sole proprietorship Clay brick is an essential part of engineering construction in building materials, it requires certain technology which local people do not have, thus they cooperate with investors from hinterland China to run brick factories. This became a pattern of local residents to participate in the project construction. From conversations with the locals, we learned that the land is collectively owned by local people, therefore a permit from local collective organizations is needed for outsiders to run a brick factory there. However, because local people do not have the technology of clay brick, brick factories are mostly ran by locals only or joint ventures by locals and outsiders together. When it is a sole proprietorship, technicians are hired by local director of the factory. When it is a joint venture, usually funds and technique are provided by outsiders and the land is provided by natives. By running brick factories, locals can participate indirectly in the project.

Zhang (investor from Henan province): The bricks used for Tibet housing construction require for a relatively low pressure durability. They are produced according to an industry standard that has been published online. Outsiders have better brick-making techniques and they can easily make clay bricks that meet the Tibetan local requirements for brick hardness with a relatively low cost and a higher profit. But in order to be better integrated and also because of the collectively-owned land, outsiders cannot take the land, they often run the brick factory by cooperating with local people which benefits the natives as well. (Source: Interview on May 3, 2015) 32 China tibetology No 2, September 2016 Local Participation and Cultural Inclusion ... 33

4. Provide logistics services to the project construction Local residents also provide logistics services to the construction team. When we did research in Tashikang Village, we found that some workers who participate in the Lunang project shower in family hotels at Tashikang, some workers stayed in local family hotels. Those have brought economic benefits to local residents. By this way, the local residents participate in the projects indirectly. A relatively low level of directly participation can been seen from the above analysis of local participation, mainly reflected in the percentage of project-involved labor force which only accounts for 7% of its total labor force in Lunang while the project fund is quite large .

V. Factors that affect the involvement of local residents

1. The nature of the project The Lunang project is the most important one in the seventh round of PAT projects. The project itself is aiming at establishing a suitable industry for the Nyingchi area in order to promote the local economy and increase the income and living standards for local residents. These are also the objectives of Guangdong’s PAT. To achieve those goals, the project needs to deliver employment to natives, get them involved and make sure they benefit from it. The Lunang project aims to bring benefit to local residents, not to exclude them. Compared to other projects, this one does not exclude natives but has advantages in absorbing local residents and increasing their income.

2. Economic conditions of local residents Under certain conditions, local residents’ involvement in construction is related to the financial status of the specific resident. In Lunang, we found that in villages with abundant resources, convenient transportation, good economic situation, and higher- income, people typically display a low readiness to participate in development projects. That might not be the case after the completion of the project. We cannot examine the exact financial conditions since the project is still in process. Tashikang village is a typical example for our argument. Under the jurisdiction of Nyingchi township, the Tashikang village is near the 318 highway and next to the construction site of the Lunang tourist town project. Situated in the scenic area of Lunang, Tashikang Village has great advantages in location and transportation, Relying on those advantages, half of farmers and herdsmen in Tashikang run family hotels and the annual income of running a family hotel can reach 100.000 RMB per family or more. Tashikang Village is rich in grassland and resources such as caterpillar fungus and 32 China tibetology No 2, September 2016 Local Participation and Cultural Inclusion ... 33

other mushrooms, almost every household has dozens of cattle and sheep. Moreover, collecting caterpillar fungus and other mushrooms resources brings villagers tens of thousands of yuan a year. Obviously, residents in Trasigang are relatively rich and are unlikely to do manual work.

Pasang Tsering (village head of Tashikang): We have abundant resources, each family runs a hotel. People can make three or four hundred yuan a day by collecting under-forest resources. They are able to have an annual income of 200,000 yuan simply by collecting the resources and running family hotels. They will not go for a 250-yuan job on the construction site.. They can’t bear that hardship. Farmers from hinterland accept lower wages and bear hardships to work on the construction site. (Source: Interview on May 3, 2015)

In contrast, in areas with poor resources, poor financial status and low income, local residents are more actively involved in project construction. According to a survey in May 2015, the Chundui village in Lhasa Linzhou (lhun-grub) has poorer resources and lower income. Additionally, there are fewer aid projects there, hence, the Chundui villagers’ readiness to work on construction site are relatively higher.

Table 3 The labor force and income level of eight villages in Lunang Town. Labor Total income Net income Cash income Distance Village Households Population force (in million) per capita per capita to Lunang Tashikang 64 302 144 11.119 22090.5 16126.1 2 Dongbacai 30 157 72 4.102 15678.0 11444.9 10 Luobu 70 327 168 10.134 18594.5 13574.0 3 Dongjiu 21 99 41 2.487 15071.5 11002.2 21 Luomu 18 76 56 2.261 17853.2 13032.8 55 Baga 20 129 63 3.827 17801.9 12995.4 38 Layue 33 119 45 2.056 10367.9 7568.6 58 Baimu 26 124 60 3.895 18845.8 13757.4 42 Total 282 1333 649 39.842 17933.4 13091.4 source：http://www.docin.com/p-1097292299.html,survey data in Tashikang village.

Relatively speaking, Lunang enjoys a higher level of economic development compared to other regions of Tibet. Table 2 shows that the net income per capita of farmers and herdsmen was nearly 18,000 yuan in 2014, almost double the state average level of 9,892 yuan that year; cash income per capita of farmers and herdsmen was greater than 13,000 yuan, far exceeding the average level of 9800 yuan. To a large 34 China tibetology No 2, September 2016 Local Participation and Cultural Inclusion ... 35 extent, economic status has influenced the participation of local farmers and herdsmen .

3. Participation channels and aid donor’s intentions Participation channels will affect local residents’ enthusiasm on the project. During the process of project plan and design, fewer channels were there for natives to speak out their ideas and advice, thus affecting the level of local participation. There is a story told by the head of the Tashikang Village. In 2011, offices of the village committee were built during the sixth round of aiding by Dongguan Tibet assistance team. Cai Jiahua ask the construction team to carefully listen to opinions and suggestions from local people and told the village chief that the local villager committee shall make final decisions on accepting those works. As a result, the construction of the village committee offices was highly supported by local people. On May 3, 2015, we went to see the office building. It was a Tibetan-style architecture, and there is a row of shops selling local specialties outside the courtyard, behind the yard are offices, meeting rooms and other activity areas. All of them are in good condition. The construction of Tashikang bridge is a negative example. This project, invested by the Traffic Bureau of Nyingchi County, has been rejected by local residents in two ways. First is the reverse direction of the river and the bridge which makes a sharp turn for vehicles. . Second is the decoration of the bridge safety rails, local residents want it to be those in traditional Tibetan style while they are not. Those ideas were not adopted by the construction team and local residents still complain about the bridge. Opinions were not directly expressed to the Traffic Bureau but to the constructing side, hence, nothing was adopted. The above cases illustrate that different parties have different understandings on local participation. Local participation was highly valued by the assistance team from Guangdong in the former example while nothing was given to it from the local government in the latter one. Secondly, local residents are not familiar with the participation channels. They directly put forward suggestions to the construction side but the construction work is in accordance with design plans.

4. Specific technical standard requirements of the project According to China’s current construction projects laws and regulations, there are two mandatory requirements for large buildings: First, construction companies must be chosen through an open tender. Qualified companies have to compete with each other. This helps save investment under the national technical standards. Second, there are different technical standards for different kinds of buildings. They are set to ensure buildings to meet international technical requirements. Thus, the Lunang international tourist town construction projects cannot be directly built by the local residents. Certainly, local residents can set up construction companies to bid, but unfortunately, 34 China tibetology No 2, September 2016 Local Participation and Cultural Inclusion ... 35

there is no such local construction company until now. This is another factor which has negatively influenced local participation. Since the beginning of the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet railway, Tibet Autonomous Region Government has adopted regulations that more than 25% of the civil engineering must be undertook by local residents. From the beginning of the “twelfth five-year plan”, the Tibet Autonomous Region government regulates that local residents must be given most of the civil work. However, there have been some unexpected situations during actual implementation. For example, the relatively low educational level makes natives unqualified for certain technical works. Additionally, in Lunang town, local residents are mostly farmers and herdsmen. and they start working after 9am. They are living a relative relaxed life and normally do not work in the afternoon while the construction team has a different timetable and natives do not get used to it. Moreover, only a small proportion of local residents can speak mandarin fluently, others can speak a little or even do not speak mandarin, which prevents them from getting hired.

VI. Local participation and cultural inclusion: Difficulties and Challenges

1. The alignment of local interests and culture protection It is worth noting that the natives have a different understanding on the transformation of family hotel with the government. The authority insists on keeping the traditional design and decorations of the room so that visitors can enjoy the very original Tibetan custom. Particular attention was given to the Lunang international tourist town by Guangdong Governor Zhu Xiaodan. He raised his ideas of ‘protecting local eco-system, respecting local culture and maintaining local benefits after listening to Professor Chen Keshi’s report for 16 times. However, based on the experience, visitors prefer modern rooms over traditional Tibetan rooms with small windows, wooden structure, low ceilings, gloomy air and poor living conditions. Farmers want their rooms to be transformed into the modern style. Half of Tashikang Villagers owned family hotels, here are their responses to this conflict: Method One: increase the living conditions of the original room, increase the lighting condition and purchasing new bedding. Many villagers chose this way. Method Two: build twin-rooms in their yard with Tibetan outer walls and modern inner decorations. The Lahm hotel we stayed on May 2, 2015 was in such a style. There is a two-floor family hotel with twin-bed rooms in her backyard. The inside furnish meets the basic requirements of a hotel but with simple facilities. The host told 36 China tibetology No 2, September 2016 Local Participation and Cultural Inclusion ... 37 us she admired the secretary Pasang Tsering’s hotel., We visited a household (Qimei hotel) next to the Lunang international project headquarters when we were in Lobu village. The hosts introduced us their family hotel with twin-bed rooms which is under construction. This one-floor wooden house was built in Tibetan style and the host emphasized on its modern facilities. Method three: tear down the old house and build a modern hotel on the original site. Village chief Pa Sang built a small hotelZhong Mai Family Inn） next to his house. It is a two-floor building with more than 30 twin-bed rooms. Rooms are similar to those of urban hotels except for the Tibetan decorations. The Pa Sang family lives in a two-floor Tibetan house next to the hotel. We observed that local residents still stick to their Tibetan lifestyle. Besides building their houses in a typical Tibetan way, they get up early for pilgrim walks around the prayer flag and light aromatic plant for smoke. They also obey the rule that forbids killing on the third, the sixth and the ninth day of every lunar month. Natives are making a change by hiring outsiders when visitors order stone pot chicken on those days.

2. To confirm the cultural protection object To better highlight the Tibetan cultural characteristics and make Lunang township the carrier of Tibetan culture, China Reconstruction Institute of Urban and Architecture Design Company emphasized Tibetan features on architecture and landscape design in the actual planning of the Lunang town, hoping to form a spiritual atmosphere under the refined culture of Tibet.. Meanwhile, in order to show an artistic and original modern town, China Reconstruct Institute of Urban and Architecture Design Company focus on the application of new technologies, new materials and new methods, not only improved the urbanization level, optimized urban functions, but also provided a high quality leisure and tourism environment for tourists. Lunang International town reflects “the culture of southeastern Tibet” and its architectural style is “the Gongbu architectural style”. There is a question on the object of protection, i.e. what kind of culture should we protect? Culture is all-encompassing and complex. Different people have different symbols of culture. For ordinary people, culture means local traditions and custom. For the class of elites, for instance local officials, culture means the elite culture. Conflicts do not just exist between those two groups/Debate raised when it comes to the question of what kind of culture should we protect. That is the reason we insist on cultural inclusion and protection. Yet we are still unsure about what kind of culture to be protected. It is important to confirm the object of cultural protection under the assistance. How should the Lunang international township embody local culture? It is a difficult question for project sponsors. Zhu Xiaodan requires respect to the local culture, but what is the local culture? Lunang is located in southeastern Tibet, hence it 36 China tibetology No 2, September 2016 Local Participation and Cultural Inclusion ... 37

cannot represent the whole Tibetan culture. To display the whole Tibetan culture here is neither possible nor necessary. Lunang itself is a multi-ethnic place, besides Tibetan people, there are Monpa people, Lhoba people, etc., and different villages have different cultures. Cai Jiahua said that the culture design effect here is “neither fish nor fowl”.

3.Corporatization of scenic region Lunang scenic: In the past, tourists staying in family hotels or village hotels can enjoy the local natural scenery and cultural landscape for free. Now there found a company in Lang scenic areas. The scenic enclosures , including Tashikang village, Dongbacai village and Luobu village are under unified management of the company and a ticket is sold for ¥80. It is observed that few tourists bought the tickets. Although visitors stayed in family hotels in the village, they were not able to get in those attractions. We were staying with the Maharaja Ram’s in Tashikang Village , but we were rejected from visiting the “Prayer flag array” without a ticket. We noticed that the “ticket economy” is common in tourism development activities. Developers hope to benefit from the tickets economically. We are worried that the similar situations in Luleng township would bring negative effects to local family hotels, ‘Because tourists choose local hotels to better appreciate the beautiful views there. Despite the fact that the company itself is owned by local authorities and hired natives as staff, the ‘ticket economy’ has a repulsion effect and deprived local residents from participation to some extent.. Commercial Street:Commercial Street was under construction at the time we investigated. Restaurants, accommodations, souvenir shops are gathered on a small street along the 318 highway in the past which generated by history and nature due to the none-taxation policy on small business of Tibet Autonomous Region. Now the government is planning to reorganize the commercial street and move all shops and business activities to the new commercial street. The commercial street is dominated by the government but supervised by a company. Although the new mall is still under construction, the investment promotion has already begun. We concerned that the rent and the price the shops on the commercial street may have repulsion effect on local residents and negative impact on local small businesses that serve tourism .

VII.Conclusion The final version of Lunang International tourism township is mainly focused on the development of local tourism industry. Developing the tourism industry requires an integration of culture and economy. The Lunang case gives us four perspectives to look into this kind of problems: 38 China tibetology No 2, September 2016 Local Participation and Cultural Inclusion ... 39

Firstly, from the conception, project planning and design, project construction and project operation. Different stages have different degree of local participation. Although the proposal of developing tourism industry in Luleng comes from the sixth round of assistance, the ideas generated in a long period during which the assistance team had changed their way of adding and explored for advantages of Tashikang Village as well as abundant resources in Luleng. From the proposal to the final decision of Nyingchi County after different suggestions, from the approval of Nyingchi Party committees and governments to the final approval of the Tibet Autonomous Region and Guangdong Provincial Government, it took a long time to reach consensus. Lunang local residents supported for this project. Although there were two households impeded the demolition, they were asking for more compensation, not against this project. In the process of project design, as the principle of assistance team, the Governor of Guangdong Province attaches great importance to culture protection. He voted down the previous design of the foreign company, and replaced it with one of the local company. the designer went to the local family, communicated with them and gathered their suggestions. The final version of the project shows respects to the local culture and high degree of cultural inclusion. During the construction phase, local residents transferred from passive participation to active participation and directly involved in the project construction by selling sand etc. Secondly, from the direct and indirect involvement of farmers and herdsmen. The Lunang international tourist township project involves a high degree of indirect participation which is reflected in cultural inclusion and a diversification of economic strategies to be indirectly involved. This project has advantages on increasing local participation naturally and it aims at changing the ‘blood transfusion’ into ‘hematopoiesis’ by industry assistance. There is no repulsion effect on local residents. Economically, the higher income has reduced the enthusiasm of local residents to work on the construction site.. . It is crucial that builders well realize the importance of local participation and are willing to provide relevant channels. Thirdly, from the donor’s intentions, project implementation and ways of working. It is common to have a low degree of local participation on both domestic and overseas cases. Due to the lack of knowledge on local culture, it is even more common to have such situation in project invested and designed by outsiders. The project sponsors including secretary Cai Jiahua and Professor Chen Keshi increased the degree of indirect local participation by staying with local residents and listening to their opinions. Additionally, by toleration and providing logistic services did they enhance the indirect engagement. The stereotype of outside sponsors always ignore local culture” should be abandoned. Besides the constructors, local residents play a vital role of local participation. According to the project of Lunang international township, 38 China tibetology No 2, September 2016 Local Participation and Cultural Inclusion ... 39

we should break constraints that prevent natives from participation, improve their knowledge and working skills included. Fourthly, from the challenge faced by local residents in terms of local participation and cultural inclusion. The confusing question is that how to specify the protecting object and how to increase the cultural consciousness of natives. In addition, how to integrate cultural protection and local people’s benefits is another problem to be solved. It is crucial to protect the culture while not injure the public interest. Only by solving those issues can we improve the local participation and the cultural inclusion. The enthusiasm should be increased in order to increase the local participation. Acting as the culture carrier, natives increase the degree of local inclusion through participation.

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