Reflections on Agricultural Heritage Systems and Tourism in China

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn relation to the Food and Agriculture Organization’s 2002 Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems project, increasing attention has been devoted to agricultural heritage and tourism in China, especially since 2006. Based on an analysis of English and Chinese literature, this paper reviews agricultural heritage and related tourism development in China. The findings suggest that tourism development modes, tourism resource exploration, tourism impacts, and community participation are the most common research topics in this subfield. Research that reveals a deeper understanding of agricultural heritage systems is uncommon, which may result in low levels of community participation and incorrect heritage management approaches in agricultural heritage areas. Problems in the field of agricultural heritage tourism, the unique features of this form of tourism and the enthusiasm for, and insufficiency of, tourism research in China on this topic are discussed based on our analysis. Obviously, more efforts are needed to understand agricultural heritage tourism better by combining valuable international experience with traditional local practices to realize the goal of balancing conservation and tourism development.