Heritage Sites In China Research Articles

Bottom-up heritage conservation, tourists' demand and homestays as purveyors of cultural authenticity

ABSTRACT The longstanding dominance of authorized heritage discourse in top-down heritage conservation has overlooked the involvement of stakeholders outside positions of authority, leading to various practical challenges. Homestays as spaces rooted in local culture have gained popularity at cultural heritage sites in China. It presents a unique opportunity to explore heritage conservation by engaging tourists and local residents. This study focuses on homestays in the National Fishing Cultural Heritage Area in Xiangshan, China. The findings, derived from a sample of 282 surveys, reveal a significant positive impact of both tourists’ perceptions of objective authenticity and the effects of existential authenticity of homestays on their satisfaction and loyalty. Homestay hosts who respond to tourists’ needs by providing tangible and intangible authenticities related to local fishing traditions embrace a natural and voluntary approach to heritage conservation, sidestepping the need for top-down mandatory responsibility. This novel approach has given rise to a heritage conservation model that addresses the contemporary challenges of authoritative heritage governance in tourism, providing insights for the critical heritage paradigm and the sustainable management of tourism destinations.

Determination of the temporal–spatial distribution patterns of ancient heritage sites in China and their influencing factors via GIS

In this paper, we analysed the temporal and spatial distributions of ancient archaeological sites in China as well as their influencing factors. Our aim was to reveal the developmental trajectory of Chinese civilisation and to explore the natural and cultural factors affecting human distribution, with the goal of providing insights for the conservation and development of ancient relics. We employed spatial analysis methods using ArcGIS 10.8 software, such as kernel density analysis and trend surface analysis, to analyse 1194 historical ancient sites listed in the National Cultural Relics Protection Units of China. The research findings are as follows: (1) the distribution of ancient sites demonstrates an agglomerative spatial pattern. The nearest neighbour index (R < 1) for sites from various historical periods indicates an agglomerative spatial distribution of ancient sites across historical periods, with the clustering degree being relatively poor for sites from the Wei-Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties and in the Ming and Qing periods. The regions with a concentration of ancient sites are the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and Yellow River Basins. Furthermore, there is a higher abundance of ancient sites in the southeastern region than in the northwestern region. (2) The distribution of ancient sites in different historical periods also exhibits an imbalance, with an overall decreasing trend in the number of ancient sites in China. Notably, more ancient sites were found for the prehistoric and pre-Qin periods. The temporal trend of ancient sites during historical periods follows a trajectory from northeast to northwest, northeast to southwest, etc. (3) The temporal and spatial distributions of ancient sites are influenced by multiple factors, including social development, the natural environment, geographical elements, and socioeconomic and political factors. Finally, based on an understanding of the spatiotemporal distribution pattern of ancient sites and the factors that influence this pattern, recommendations for conservation and development can be proposed and supported by modern technological methods, with the aim of offering insights for the protection and sustainable development of heritage sites.

An empirical analysis of the role of experience and attitude on ecotourism consumption behaviour

ABSTRACT This study examine the factors that shape consumers’ ecotourism consumption behaviour and choices focusing on attitudes, behaviour choices, and the mediating role of ecotourism consumption attitudes. A quantitative approach was used, and data were collected through a questionnaire-based survey administered to 881 ecotourists at three 5A-level scenic spots in Tian Shan World Natural Heritage sites in China. Using the structural equation model, the findings reveal that consumption attitudes, values, and social norms positively influence ecotourism consumption behaviour choices through the mediating effect of ecotourism consumption attitudes. Furthermore, the perception of destination attraction experience directly and positively impacts consumption attitudes. These results provide valuable insights into the consumption behaviour of eco-tourists in the World Natural Heritage Site, informing sustainable ecotourism management strategies.

Study on the Spatial Distribution Characteristics and Influencing Factors in the Reuse of National Industrial Heritage Sites in China

Industrial heritage is a valuable spatial resource for urban stock updates, and its preservation and reuse play an important role in the transmission of urban history and culture. Typological analysis, descriptive statistical analysis, relevant spatial analysis using ArcGIS 10.8, and geographic probes were employed to explore the spatial distribution characteristics and influencing factors regarding the current status of the reuse of 196 heritage sites selected from five batches of China’s National Industrial Heritage (NIH) lists. The results reveal the following: (1) The spatial distribution of China’s NIH sites is uneven and cohesive, forming a dense circle with the Yangtze River Delta region and the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region at its core. (2) Three-fourths of the NIH sites have entered the reuse stage, and high-density and relatively high-density clusters have formed in the eastern and central regions. (3) The conservation and reuse directions of China’s NIH sites are mainly divided into publicization and marketization. (4) The spatial distribution differentiation of the reuse of NIH sites is not due to a single cause but, rather, a combination of various contributing factors. Natural geographic and socio-economic factors exert varying degrees of influence on the spatial distribution of reused heritage sites, with tourism resources and government support playing primary roles in shaping this distribution. These findings establish a fundamental database of China’s NIH sites and provide guidance for the current conservation and reuse of industrial heritage.

Digital twin applications on cultural world heritage sites in China: A state-of-the-art overview

Recent decades have witnessed digital twin as a toolkit to collect, process, and utilize graphical, spatial and other attribute data of cultural heritage. It has been widely applied on cultural world heritage sites in China, which have significant differences in ages, types, materials, and history of maintenance and conservation. Although specific cases are reported previously, a comprehensive overview is still lacking. This paper explores the association between digital twin and heritage conservation, classifying digital twin techniques into six levels to tackle three tasks: data acquisition, visualization and application. It systematically reviews Chinese heritage digitization practices, considering variations in complexity and purposes, and demonstrates typological and chronological characteristics as well as the composition of stakeholders.

Spatial Feature Analysis of the Beijing Forbidden City and the Shenyang Imperial Palace Based on Space Syntax

As two of the most complete existing examples of royal architecture and cultural World Heritage Sites in China, the Beijing Forbidden City and the Shenyang Imperial Palace are distinctive in terms of their spatial organization. This study used the relational diagram method of space syntax theory to quantitatively analyze the spaces of these two palaces. Furthermore, the characteristics of these spaces were explored by comparing the integration and depth value of each palace space, as well as the differences in architectural culture between the different times and nationalities that they reflect. The results show that in the Forbidden City, office space had the lowest degree of spatial enclosure (depth value), while living space had the highest spatial enclosure. Moreover, there was little difference in accessibility (integration value) among office space, living space, and recreation space. In the Shenyang Imperial Palace, the accessibility of office space, living space, and recreation space showed a decreasing trend, while their spatial enclosure showed an increasing trend. The depth values of office space, living space, and recreation space were higher in the Beijing Forbidden City than in the Shenyang Imperial Palace by 245%, 109%, and 35%, respectively. The integration value of office space was 22.2% higher in the Shenyang Imperial Palace than in the Forbidden City, while the integration values of living space and recreation space were higher in the Forbidden City than in the Shenyang Imperial Palace by 13.9% and 49.2%, respectively. The degree of enclosure of the recreation spaces in both palaces was very strong, indicating that the royal family paid attention to privacy during their leisure activities. In the process of use, the functional conversion of different palaces in the Forbidden City significantly improved the accessibility of both the emperor’s living space and the minister’s office space and simultaneously strengthened the connection between these two spaces. Factors in the construction sequence led to the unreasonable accessibility of recreation space in the Shenyang Imperial Palace.

Sustainable development of World Cultural Heritage sites in China estimated from optical and SAR remotely sensed data

To address the gap of insufficient and incompatible census data on total per capita expenditure, the percentile score model is proposed as an alternative methodological approach to access the progress toward sustainability of cultural World Heritage List (WHL) properties in China by satellite images. We propose two complementary disturbance indicators: The land cover change ratio (LCR) that is visually detected using high-resolution optical images, and the surface deformation estimated using interferometric radar data. The nexus between Sustainable Development Science Satellite 1 (SDGSAT-1) glimmer data (a proxy for socioeconomic development) and LCR measurements are highly correlated (R2 ≈ 0.8). This pattern does not hold, however, for the deformation indicator considering the complexity of relevant driving forces. First-hand scientific percentile scores reveal that 12/30 WHL properties are in good condition with a percentile score > 90, 16/30 properties are in qualified condition, and the remaining two are in disqualified condition; this could be attributable to limitations of the methodological approach in terms of overestimation or underestimation. The methodology may be improved by testing its performance on the achievement assessment of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 11.4.

Exploring the impact of climate change on flood risk at cultural heritage sites using a GIS-based SCS-CN method: A case study of Shanxi province, China

Cultural heritage sites in China are facing an increasing risk of flooding caused in part by global climate change. This paper aims to provide a new method used to predict flood risk of cultural heritage sites while considering the impact of climate change. Using a GIS-based Soil Conservation Service Curve Number (SCS–CN) method, we assessed the risk of flooding at cultural heritage sites in Shanxi Province by the end of 21st century under three different climate change scenarios, namely SSP119, SSP245, and SSP585. The results show that 268 sites are currently at risk from a 100-year storm event. By 2099, about 100 additional cultural heritage sites are projected to be threatened by flooding. The cultural heritage sites protected at the city and county level are generally more vulnerable to climate change. In addition, those along the Fen River in Taiyuan City, the Qin and Dan rivers in Jincheng City, and the upstream region of the Zhuozhang River in Changzhi City also have relatively high flood risks. These findings can provide insights for climate change adaptive action and cultural heritage conversation in Shanxi Province.

Analysis of spatial characteristics and influence mechanism of human settlement suitability in traditional villages based on multi-scale geographically weighted regression model: A case study of Hunan province

Traditional villages are invaluable cultural heritage sites in China, reflecting a rich historical and cultural legacy. However, rapid urbanization has led to the destruction and loss of numerous traditional villages. The remaining traditional villages also face challenges in preserving their original living environment. In order to assess human settlement suitability and identify potential factors, this paper proposes a village-scale model for assessing human settlement suitability. This paper used an eight-factor evaluation system, multi-criteria decision analysis and spatial visualization methods to evaluate the scores and spatial characteristics of human settlement suitability of 688 traditional villages in Hunan Province. This paper also examines the factors affecting cluster suitability using geographic detectors and multi-scale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) models. This study found that the quality of human settlement suitability varied widely. The overall quality is low and very few areas achieve medium or higher scores. Among them, the traditional villages in Huaihua city, Zhangjiajie junction, southern Hengyang city, northwestern Yongzhou city, central Chenzhou city and Changsha city exhibit higher scores. Secondly, the commercial facility density and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) are important factors driving the spatial changes. And there is a significant interaction effect between them. Additional factors impacting spatial variation include annual average temperature, per capita disposable income, and average house price. This comprehensive assessment reveals spatial characteristics and potential influencing factors. The results of the study provide an empirical basis and decision-making foundation for the protection and development of traditional villages, which will ultimately contribute to the sustainable development of China's rural areas.

Tourists’ national identity at heritage sites of natural disasters

Cultivating national identity at dark heritage sites is of national significance and important for one's sense of belonging. Chinese national identity seems to be a quintessential case to investigate, given nation-building is central to the development of dark heritage tourism in China. However, there is a lack of systematic and in-depth understanding of the factors associated with the construction of national identity among visitors. Drawing on self-categorisation theory, this paper explores visitors' perception of national identity in a dark heritage context of natural disasters. Built on the analysis of 83 semi-structured interviews from two different dark heritage sites in China, a conceptual model illustrating the salience of national identity was developed. The model indicates that Chinese national identity could be facilitated by external stimuli and national identity attributes. The salient national identity is accompanied by emotional reactions and positive evaluation of the national group. The findings might provide managerial insights into nation-building practice and endeavours through dark heritage of natural disasters.

EVALUATION OF WALKABILITY ON GULANGYU BASED ON RESIDENTS' PERCEPTIONS

As a heritage site, Gulangyu has a unique character and importance in its community function. Most heritage sites in China are car-free destinations where walking is the primary mode of transport and a medium of interaction in residents' daily lives. This study investigates residents' perceived evaluations of the landscape environment and residents' walking behaviour using descriptive statistics, correlation and logistic regression analysis to derive relationship between landscape and walking behaviour. The aim is to derive the landscape factors that influence walking behaviour and improve the basis for enhancing the walkability of Gulangyu. The results show that function is most strongly correlated with purposeful walking. And the recreational walkers are influenced by a combination of function, safety, comfort, aesthetics and pleasantness.

Cultural heritage sites risk assessment based on RS and GIS—takes the Fortified Manors of yongtai as an example

As the carrier of history and culture, cultural heritage has outstanding value and is increasingly vulnerable to natural hazards and anthropogenic changes. The research on the risk of cultural heritage sites around the world is becoming more and more mature, but the research on Chinese cultural heritage sites is inadequate. The purpose of this study is to fill the gap in the research on multi-disaster risk assessment of cultural heritage sites in China and to propose an integrated approach to risk assessment based on Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) for the protection and development of cultural heritage. This study identified six threats to cultural heritage sites: landslides, floods, erosion, urban sprawl, fires, and modern road networks. Taking Fortified Manors of Yongtai, Fujian Province, China as the research object, this study collected historical satellite images, relevant remote sensing, and thematic data, used GIS technology to establish a basic spatial database, and constructed a risk assessment system in the study area using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the Certainty Factor (CF) model. The risk of Fortified Manors of Yongtai was divided into five levels: extremely low risk, low risk, medium risk, high risk, and extremely high risk. It is found that most of the Fortified Manors are in high risk or above, accounting for 69.28%, indicating that most of them are in a very dangerous environment, and it is urgent to take measures to monitor and protect them.

What interpretation service are cultural tourists willing to pay for? A choice-experiment approach for cultural heritage sites in China

This study aims to explore tourists' willingness to pay (WTP) for interpretation through measuring marginal willingness-to-pay for interpretive attributes, identifying influencing factors of WTP, and illustrating heterogeneity in tourists' preference. Choice experiment was applied to this study with 536 valid online questionnaires from respondents in China. Results revealed that respondents were willing to pay the highest price (RMB134) for a short service length. Short service length, interpretive style, content about architectural style of heritage, and distinctive local cultures positively influenced WTP, while sense of humor, interactivity, knowledge of heritage conservation and long service length negatively influenced WTP. Besides, four segments of tourists with different preference patterns for interpretive attributes were identified. This study provides practitioners with useful information about design and marketing of interpretation in cultural heritage sites.

UNESCO World Heritage Sites in China’s cultural diplomacy: Fostering mutual understanding along the Silk Roads

The adoption of the World Heritage Convention (WHC) in 1972 was the response to a world asking for peace after the destruction caused by the two world conflicts, particularly to cultural heritage (CH). UNESCO World Heritage Sites (WHS) act as enablers in establishing strong and effective relationships among countries, people, culture and history, while influencing and attracting these elements to promote a positive national image and fostering mutual understanding, which is the main objective of cultural diplomacy (CD). This holds true also for China and this institutes the need to investigate on how UNESCO World Heritage acts as a strategic asset in Chinese CD. This paper will provide an empirical framework addressing the position of WHS embedded in the Chinese CD. Discussion on the growing Chinese involvement of WHS in cultural projects fostering international relations and considerations on the potential impact and future development of this phenomenon with regards to China and the WHC are offered.

Zoning scenic areas of heritage sites using visibility analysis: the case of Zhengding, China

ABSTRACT The preservation of historical architecture not only protects the specific building site but also preserves the surrounding historical setting. However, unassigned and vast historical settings are considered extremely delicate in terms of conservation. The formation of a Scenic Area provides a legal method of protecting the historical setting of cultural heritage sites in China. Additionally, scientific zoning of the Scenic Area can create zones for restricting construction and development. This article shows the process of rationally determining the Scenic Areas analyzing the visibility of Geographic Information System (GIS), taking the example of the seven National Heritage Sites (NHS) in Zhengding County, China. The objects of the visibility analysis included five high-rise architectural heritage buildings: pagodas and towers from the seven NHS and three other viewing points on the city walls to observe these sites. The results revealed several highly sensitive areas between the architectural heritage sites, in addition to the predicted areas of concerns near heritage sites. Therefore, the Scenic Areas were zoned as large connected areas by combining the spaces between the NHS. This study will help achieve rational zoning for sustainable conservation and development of high-rise cultural heritage sites forming a historical urban landscape.

Visualizing Dunhuang: The Lo Archive Photographs of the Mogao and Yulin Caves

Visualizing Dunhuang: The Lo Archive Photographs of the Mogao and Yulin Caves

Tourists’ Perceived Attitudes toward the Famous Terraced Agricultural Cultural Heritage Landscape in China

Terraces are the major vehicle for agricultural activities in mountainous areas and are an important component of the agro-cultural heritage landscape. This work explores tourists’ perceived attitudes toward, and characteristics of terraced agro-cultural heritage landscapes based on online web travel notes. A framework of visitor perception types of terraced agricultural cultural heritage landscapes was constructed, and each type was analyzed in a targeted manner. The results obtained can provide a reference for the conservation of heritage farming culture and the development of strategies to improve landscape quality for such sites. This study used crawler software to collect online travelogue data from 3991 notes by visitors to seven note-worthy terraced agro-cultural heritage sites in China and used the ROST Content Mining 6 tool to analyze high-frequency feature words, semantic networks, and sentiment distribution and ten-dency. We found that the tourist perception of the diversity of terraced agro-cultural heritage landscape is rich, with a high overall evaluation. The tourists‘ perceptions focused on four elements: landscape, ecology, culture, and service. They were more likely to have a high perception of the landscape than service, which in turn was higher than culture and ecology. The emotional tendency of tourists‘ perceptions is mainly highly positive and neutral, and negative emotions account for a lower proportion and are mostly mild.

The Impact of Air Pollution on the Protection of World Cultural Heritage in China.

The damage of air pollution to cultural heritage is widely known. However, the quantitative effects still need to be explored at a holistic level. Different from existing research which focuses on the “model calculation” methods, this paper uses an econometric approach to assess the overall impact of air pollution on the sustainable protection of world cultural heritage in China. Based on the data of the annual monitoring report from 2014 to 2020 released by the China World Cultural Heritage Monitoring Platform, this paper uses the thermal inversion as an instrument variable of air pollution to estimate the overall effects of air pollution on all world cultural heritage sites in China. The results indicate that almost all the air pollutants (except for CO) have significantly negative effects on heritage. The damaging effects of gaseous pollutants including SO2, NO2 and O3 is greater than that of particulate pollutants such as PM2.5 and PM10. Rainfall can exacerbate the worsening effects of gaseous pollutants, but will mitigate the negative effects of particulate pollutants; the windy weather may weaken the negative impact. In addition, environmental regulations from the local government can also alleviate the negative influence of air pollution on heritage protection. This research can provide a more comprehensive environmental prevention policy reference for the protection of world cultural heritage.

Exploring the Spatial Image of Traditional Villages from the Tourists’ Hand-Drawn Sketches

As an important concept in cognitive psychology and behavioural geography, destination spatial image cognition has a significant impact on the quality of tourists’ experience, and on their behavioural intention. However, studies of spatial image cognition in small-scale traditional villages are limited. Therefore, the present study analyses the spatial image characteristics of four traditional villages of World Cultural Heritage sites in China through the use of tourists’ hand-drawn sketches, using a sample of 366 respondents to further explore the evolution process of cognitive map types and constituent elements with tourists’ stay days. Results indicate that the spatial cognitive map and landmarks are the main types and dominant elements of spatial image cognition, respectively. The tourists’ spatial cognitive process includes two sequences, as follows: the evolution sequence of dominant cognitive maps is “spatial + individual → spatial + individual + hybrid → spatial + individual”, while the evolution sequence of dominant cognition elements is “landmark + path + animal and plant → landmark + animal and plant + path”. This study extends the current destination spatial image cognition literature, and has substantial value for the destination in terms of developing traditional village sustainable tourism based on the tourists’ attitude, as obtained by the cognitive map method.

Community Empowerment Under Powerful Government: A Sustainable Tourism Development Path for Cultural Heritage Sites.

Community participation is the core of sustainable tourism development; however, it encounters obstacles at government-controlled heritage sites in China. This paper examines the status quo of community participation and residents’ empowerment perception through 25 in-depth interviews and 168 questionnaires in the Miao ethnic heritage site of Xijiang Village in southwest China, the findings reveal that: (a) The phenomenon of disempowerment focuses on the political and economic aspects, rather than the social and psychological aspects; (b) Spatial difference affects empowerment perception; and (c) Residents desire more political and education empowerment. On this basis, the present research puts forward a comprehensive empowerment system consists of system, information, and education empowerment which contributes to the theorization of community empowerment between Chinese and Western scholars and provides an alternative path to sustainable tourism development for developing countries’ cultural heritage sites.