Heritage Tourism and Nation-State Political Power: Interpretive Trails of the Gyalrong People, Sichuan, China

Abstract

In China, conservation of minority heritage has been closely related to tourism development. Ecomuseums have also become a new model which serves to satisfy two major tasks: minority heritage protection and tourism development. In this paper, I explore how trails are planned in Gyalrong people's villages under the mode of ecomuseum. Through interviews and field survey in several villages, including review of three major tourism plans and proposals from local officials, I compared trails that were constructed by local ethnic groups with trails that are currently planned predominantly by the government. Through this comparison, I found that there are conflicts and an unbalanced relationship between the ethnic groups and the government. Furthermore, I emphasize the ways in which the philosophy of the ecomuseum is displaced and modified in the context of Chinese society. In conclusion, I point out problems faced by local ethnic communities as they find their way to achieving sustainable development under the framework of heritage tourism and nation-state political power. Ecomuseums and heritage tourism have been discussed a great deal in China and internationally; this study points out key problems and critical issues in current ways of developing heritage tourism in the landscape of minorities in China.