Heritage和瑞怎么样_Preserving,Rural,Heritage

　　Fans of Ang Lee’s film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon may recognize the simple but elegant antique houses found in Hongcun Village in Yixian County, east China’s Anhui Province, where scenes from the hit movie were filmed.
　　Houses in the village, many of which feature exquisite ancient craftsmanship, line an irrigation canal constructed about 800 years ago.
　　The buffalo-shaped village now has 1,280 residents in 432 households. Among those still standing in the village are 158 residential houses dating back to the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, and nearly 140 of them are in good condition.
　　Hongcun is an exceptional model for the preservation of ancient dwellings in China. In 2000, it was inscribed into UNESCO’s list of World Cultural Heritage Sites.
　　As China modernizes, ancient rural settlements in the country are disappearing at an alarming rate. According to the China Society for the Study of Folk Literature and Art, fewer than 3,000 of the country’s 2.3 million villages have retained their original layout, classic architecture, customs and other nontangible cultural heritage sites.
　　Yearning for modern amenities, younger generations of villagers tend to either abandon antique houses, leaving them to further decay, or renovate old houses, often dramatically altering their original layout and style. In many villages, stylish modern structures juxtapose with traditional ones, producing a jarring incongruity.
　　“During the rural development process, many villages have lost their original appearances that reflect distinct local culture and lifestyle,”said Yun Wenju, an official with the Ministry of Land and Resources. “As a result, they have come to look more or less the same.”
　　Along with the decay and transformation of ancient houses, many villages have been wiped out entirely. The number of natural villages in China dropped from 3.6 million in 2000 to 2.7 million in 2010, according to Feng Jicai, a famous writer.
　　Speaking on June 5 at a seminar on protecting cultural heritage in Chinese villages, Feng said, “When a natural village vanishes, a trove of valuable historical information is lost. So protecting ancient villages is a pressing issue.”
　　Since 2003, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage have listed 181 towns and 169 villages as famous rural habitats of historical and cultural significance.
　　Some ancient villages have contracted private companies to develop tourism and protect heritage. So far, the results are varied.
　　
　　Hongcun model
　　Hongcun is one of the 169 designated famous rural habitats. The village follows a so-called“government-steered, company operated and villager participated” heritage preservation model.
　　Much of Hongcun’s preservation work has been carried out by Zhongkun Group, a private real estate company headquartered in Beijing.
　　In 1997, Zhongkun Group contracted with Yixian to develop tourist resources in three local villages including Hongcun. The contract period is 30 years.
　　Prior to 1997, Hongcun suffered from woes familiar to many ancient villages: dilapidated houses, damaged roads, poor waste removal services, and out-of-place unauthorized structures.
　　Village leaders launched a company in June 1996 to develop tourism. But due to fund shortage and a lack of management expertise, the company earned just 10 yuan ($1.57) for each villager in its first year.
　　After Zhongkun Group was brought in, things began to change. The group decided to repair heritage properties in the village first and develop tourism later. Huang Nubo, the group’s Chairman, invited renowned architects from Tsinghua University and Tongji University to visit the area and produce a development plan. For the ensuing plan, Zhongkun Group paid a cost nearly double the village’s total annual income at that time.
　　In 1999, the development plan was approved by supervising government departments including the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.
　　Zhongkun Group then invested millions of dollars to protect traditional buildings and improve infrastructure in the village.
　　The group repaired and restored key traditional structures under protection in strict conformance to their original look, and renovated other buildings to modernize their interior while preserving their exterior design.
　　In the meantime, the group also upgraded roads, dredged rivers and planted trees.
　　In addition to Zhongkun Group’s efforts, the local government also encouraged villagers to start businesses specializing in traditional craftsmanship such as wood, brick and stone carving, selling local special products such as tea and snacks, and showcasing traditional customs.
　　“Protecting the ancient village requires more than just renovating houses; it must also include restoring culture and lifestyle,” Feng said.
　　In 2000, Hongcun, together with nearby Xidi Village, was successfully inscribed into the list of World Cultural Heritage Sites. A cultural heritage preservation and management committee was set up in Hongcun. Yixian County also enacted detailed guidelines for protecting world cultural heritage sites.
　　Tourism exploded in Hongcun thanks to these preservation efforts. According to data from Yixian County Tourism Bureau, the number of travelers to the village grew from 23,100 in 1997 to 1.03 million in 2009, an incredible 44.6-fold increase.
　　Hongcun, once a poor village, has turned into an affluent one. Local residents said that a local household in the area has an annual income on average between 100,000 yuan($15,725) to 500,000 yuan ($78,625).
　　Zhongkun’s Chairman Huang said that of the millions of dollars of proceeds from entry tickets to Hongcun, the company returns one third to local residents. In addition, local farmers also benefit by engaging in tourism-related businesses, such as operating hotels, restaurants and shops.
　　Every year, the Yixian County Government also levies 20 percent of ticket proceeds from Zhongkun Group to protect and restore cultural heritage sites.
　　
　　A failed follower
　　Between Hongcun and Xidi lies Pingshan Village, which is also listed among the 169 famous rural habitats of historical and cultural significance in China. The village has followed Hongcun’s development model, but fails to achieve the same success.
　　Pingshan, named after a mountain to its north, is also well-endowed with heritage properties. The village has seven temples built in the Ming Dynasty and 200 plus residential houses built in Ming and Qing dynasties.
　　In 2000, Pingshan contracted a private company, Pingshan Tourism Co. Ltd., to manage the village’s tourism development program for 50 years. The contract has specifications to protect the village’s heritage properties.
　　Several years later, Pingshan decided to terminate the contract. In November 2008, the Huangshan City Arbitration Committee ruled that the contract was revoked. In 2009, Pingshan commissioned Hongcun to develop its tourist resources.
　　“Pingshan’s tourism grew too slowly,”villager Yu Zhuanhao told Xinhua News Agency. Yu said that the company was making money from existing resources.
　　But Ge Fulong, the company owner, argued that his company planned to lay a solid foundation in the first 10 years, and vigorously develop tourism 10 years later.
　　He said that when his company took over Pingshan’s tourism development program, the village was not easily accessible. The company invested 7.99 million yuan ($1.26 million) in repairing and paving roads and repairing ancient buildings, which had not been offset by ticket revenue. According to Ge, revenue had grown from 20,195 yuan ($3,176) in 2000 to 280,000($44,040) yuan in 2007 in Pingshan.
　　During a visit to Pingshan shortly after the contract was terminated, a Xinhua reporter found that while some of the ancient structures like gate towers had been restored, many other structures such as temples and archways were not well preserved. In addition, the river flowing through the village was littered with garbage.
　　“Although theoretically speaking, protecting ancient villages and developing tourism are complementary rather than contradictory, problems will arise if heritage preservation is to be completely financed by revenue from tourism,” said Sun Jiahua, head of Jiangxi Province’s Cultural Relics Bureau.
　　Sun believes the government should neither do too little nor too much in regard to preserving ancient villages. He said that some local governments had micromanaged tourism while handing over heritage protection—a public resource—to private operators.
　　“When ancient villages are left to contract companies to develop their tourism, their development plan should first be approved by relevant government departments,” said Sheng Xuefeng, an expert with Anhui’s Dianfeng Luyou Research Center. He suggested that county-level tourism and cultural heritage authorities should set up expert panels to carefully evaluate development plans of ancient villages and monitor the development process.