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Copyright by Yuanjing Du 2012 The Thesis Committee for Yuanjing Du Certifies that this is the approved version of the following thesis: A HERITAGE TOURISM PRESERVATION PLAN FOR MOGAO GROTTOES, PR. CHINA APPROVED BY SUPERVISING COMMITTEE: Supervisor: Christopher Long Co-Supervisor: Michael Holleran A HERITAGE TOURISM PRESERVATION PLAN FOR MOGAO GROTTOES, PR. CHINA by Yuanjing Du, BA Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Historic Preservation The University of Texas at Austin August 2012 Dedication This work is dedicated to my mom. Without your love and support, I’d never have this achievement. Acknowledgements I would like to thank the historic preservation program in the School of Architecture at The University of Texas at Austin. Special thanks to Professor Christopher Long and Professor Michael Holleran. Thank you, Professor Long, for your enthusiasm, patience, encouragement, and advising throughout the whole project. You are the most amazing and greatest professor I have ever had in my life. Thank you, Professor Holleran, for your support, mentoring, and encouragement during the past two years. I also want to thank the faculty and staff of the School of Architecture for the excellent education. I would also like to thank Jessica Anderson and Thomas Garcia for their support and help. And thanks to Ms. Elisabeth Murphy for providing a quiet and nice house in which I could complete my thesis. Thank you to my mother and brother for your love and support the past two years. v Abstract A Heritage Tourism Preservation Plan for Mogao Grottoes, PR China Yuanjing Du, M.S.H.P. The University of Texas at Austin, 2012 Supervisor: Christopher Long and Michael Holleran The Mogao Grottoes, also known as the Mogao Caves or the Thousand Buddhas Caves, is located at the southeast of Dunhuang, northwestern China. It is a very important cultural heritage site on the Silk Road and was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987. Mogao Grottoes is a Buddhist shrine with 45,000 square meters of wall paintings and 3,000 sculptures within 492 cave temples from the 4th to 14th centuries; it is also known as the world’s largest existing cave temple with the richest content of Buddhist art. In 1900, the Library Cave was discovered, in which more than 50,000 well-preserved manuscripts, silk paintings, and other relics of important academic research value were. With its long history and profound culture, Mogao Grottoes became a hot tourist destination in China. A growing numbers of visitors, vi especially in recent years, bring great challenges for heritage preservation and tourism at Mogao. Dunhuang Academy developed a preservation and utilization project in order to cope with this conflict between preservation and tourism, ensure the heritage is well, and develop sustainable tourism. This paper analyzes the current visitor management methods and the risks from visitors and evaluates the proposals for cave carrying capacity, visitor capacity management, visitor flow management, and a visitor center, including the good points of each and the potential problems associated with the caves preservation, site security, and visitors’ experiences. Finally, the paper discusses the overall project and proposes a recommendation for visitor management and developing sustainable tourism at Mogao Grottoes. vii Table of Contents List of tables………………………………………………………………………………………x List of figures……………………………………………………………………………………..xi Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..1 Research Question and Methodology……………………………………………………..3 Chapter Overview……………………………………………………………………........4 Chapter One: Introduction, History, and Value …………………………………………………..5 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..5 History ………………………………………………………………………………….....8 The Library Cave………………………………………………………………………...30 Discovery………………………………………………………………………...30 The Value………………………………………………………………………...32 The History……………………………………………………………………....33 The Loss………………………………………………………………………… 34 Chapter Two: Current Visitor Management at Mogao Grottoes……………………………….. 40 Current Tourism Pressure at Mogao……………………………………………………. 40 Visitors at Mogao Grottoes………………………………………………………41 Current Strategies on Visitor Management………………………………………………43 Peak-Season Tourism Period Strategies…………………………………………44 Two “Golden Week” Holidays…………………………………………………..51 Off Season Tourism Strategies…………………………………………………..53 Supplement Strategies……………………………………………………………54 Tour Reservation System………………………………………………...54 Cave Guide Management………………………………………………...55 Other Measures…………………………………………………………..57 The Risks Caused by Visitors at the Site………………………………………………...58 viii Improper Temperatures and Relative Humidity…………………………………58 Vandalism (Mechanical Damage)………………………………………………..60 Other Problems in Visitor Management…………………………………………63 Chapter Three: Evaluation on the Proposals of the Visitor Management Methods……………..66 The Proposed Preservation and Utilization Project……………………………………...67 Visitor Carrying Capacity………………………………………………………………..67 Evaluation………………………………………………………………………..69 Discussion………………………………………………………………………..72 The Visitor Capacity Management Tool…………………………………………………73 Evaluation………………………………………………………………………..74 Discussion………………………………………………………………………..76 The Visitor Flow Model………………………………………………………………….76 Evaluation………………………………………………………………………..77 Discussion………………………………………………………………………..79 The Visitor Center………………………………………………………………………..80 Background and Design………………………………………………………….80 Evaluation………………………………………………………………………..85 Discussion………………………………………………………………………..89 Chapter Four: Discussion and Recommendation………………………………………………...93 Discussion ……………………………………………………………………………….93 Recommendation………………………………………………………………………...96 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………103 Vita……………………………………………………………………………………………...104 ix List of Tables Table 2.1 The Responsibility of Each Department over the Entire Visitor’s Experience……..43 x List of Figures Figure 1.1 Geological Location of Mogao Grottoes in China…………………………………6 Figure 1.2 Geographical Location of Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang City…………………….7 Figure 1.3 Mogao Grottoes Façade (Image source: Dunhuang Academy)……………………8 Figure 1.4 The Countries in Western Region Zhang Qian Visited…………………………….9 Figure 1.5 Zhang Qian in Wall Painting of Cave 323…..……………………………………10 Figure 1.6 Silk Road………………………………………………………………………….11 Figure 1.7 Cave 332…………………………………………………………………………..12 Figure 1.8 Cave 275…………………………………………………………………………..14 Figure 1.9 Cave 428…………………………………………………………………………..15 Figure 1.10 Sections of Cave 254……………………………………………………………...16 Figure 1.11 The Ancient Chinese Myths and Legends………………………………………...17 Figure 1.12 Cave 419…………………………………………………………………………..18 Figure 1.13 Cave 328…………………………………………………………………………..19 Figure 1.14 Buildings of Tang Dynasty in Wall Painting at Cave 172………………………..20 Figure 1.15 Giant Buddha……………………………………………………………………...21 Figure 1.16 Cave 130…………………………………………………………………………..22 Figure 1.17 Cave 159…………………………………………………………………………..23 Figure 1.18 Donor’s Portrait in Cave 61……………………………………………………….24 Figure 1.19 Ceiling of Cave 130……………………………………………………………….25 Figure 1.20 Mogao Grottoes in the early 1900s……………………………………………….26 Figure 1.21 Mogao Grottoes in early 1900s…………………………………………………...27 Figure 1.22 Nine Story Pagoda of Mogao Grottoes…………………………………………...28 Figure 1.23 Façade of Mogao Grottoes………………………………………………………..28 Figure 1.24 Façade of Mogao Grottoes………………………………………………………..29 Figure 1.25 Images of Library Cave…………………………………………………………...29 xi Figure 1.26 Cave 17…………………………………………………………………………….30 Figure 1.27 Manuscripts from Library Cave…………………………………………………...31 Figure 1.28 Manuscript from Library Cave…………………………………………………….31 Figure 1.29 Statue of Hong Bian……………………………………………………………….33 Figure 1.30 Paul Peliot in Library Cave………………………………………………………..35 Figure 1.31 Before and after Reinforcement…………………………………………………...36 Figure 1.32 Monument of Mogao Grottoes as a World Heritage Site………………………….37 Figure 1.33 Façade of Mogao Grottoes………………………………………………………...38 Figure 1.34 Dunhuang Academy……………………………………………………………….39 Figure 2.1 Visitors Survey…………………………………………………………………….42 Figure 2.2 Ticket for Visitation……………………………………………………………….45 Figure 2.3 Detailed tourist map of Mogao Grottoes………………………………………….46 Figure 2.4 The Opened Caves in Time Line………………………………………………….47 Figure 2.5 Visitor Groups at Mogao Grottoes………………………………………………..48 Figure 2.6 Visitors at the Entrance……………………………………………………………49 Figure 2.7 Visitors are looking at the Library Cave at Peak-Season………………………….50 Figure 2.8 Visitors at the Corridor of Cave 16………………………………………………..51 Figure 2.9 Visitors in Holiday Weeks…………………………………………………………52 Figure 2.10 Visitors are Buying Ticket at Off-season………………………………………….53 Figure 2.11 The Website of the Tour Reservation System……………………………………..54 Figure 2.12 Cave Guide Training at the Site…………………………………………………...56 Figure 2.13 A Guide is Narrating to Visitors in French………………………………………..56 Figure 2.14 Ongoing Deterioration of the Wall Paintings……………………………………..59 Figure 2.15 Overcrowding at the Peak Season in Cave 16……………………………………..61 Figure 2.16 Visitors in the Holiday Weeks………………………………………………….….62 Figure 2.17 Exhibition Center…………………………………………………………………..64 Figure 2.18 The replica of Cave 285, Exhibition Center…………………………………….…64 xii Figure 2.19 Library Cave Museum…………………………………………………………….65 Figure 2.20 Visitors at the Library Cave Museum……………………………………………..65 Figure 3.1 Visitor Center……………………………………………………………………...81