6,819 traditional villages are included in the national list, expert: "hollowing" of ancient villages to be solved
Beijing News (Reporter Wang Shengnan) A fire brought the Wengding Village in Yunnan, known as China’s "last primitive tribe", into the public eye. Although the cause of the fire is still under investigation, the issue of protection and development of the ancient village followed Also triggered industry discussions.
At present, more than 6000 traditional villages in China are included in the national directory. The cultural and commercial value of ancient villages is getting more and more attention, and the development of commercial tourism has become a common way. However, there are still cases of successful protection and development of ancient villages in China. not much.
Industry insiders pointed out that the protection and development of ancient villages are still facing many difficulties. In the process of protection and development, it is necessary to realize that the real charm of ancient village tourism is not only uniquely shaped buildings and lively singing and dancing, but still lively fireworks and fireworks. Human touch, the protection of ancient villages should emphasize the overall protection, and the development of ancient villages should be the sustainable development of "ecology, production and life".
The protection and development of ancient villages is "hollow", and the phenomenon of "one thousand villages" is serious
Wengding Village was listed in the first batch of Chinese traditional village lists in 2012. At present, a total of 6,819 traditional villages across the country are included in the national list, but most of the traditional villages have not found a good breakthrough.
For example, Cangpo Village, Yongjia, Zhejiang Province, which was included in the list of traditional Chinese villages in 2016. According to local media reports, since 2016, there have been various illegal forced demolition, construction and construction in Cangpo Village. Poor and "demolition of the old to build new", leading to the gradual destruction of ancient villages, the local area has never found a reasonable path for the development and protection of ancient villages.
Zhang Jinshan, director of the Institute of Tourism Industry and Economics of Beijing Union University, pointed out that in the process of urbanization and the rapid development of tourism, the ancient villages represented by ethnic minority villages have been sought after by tourists for their pristine style, simple folk customs, and many ethnic minority villages. It also quickly entered the category of tourism development.
However, in the process of tourism development, ancient villages faced contradictions such as resource development and protection, and the relationship between foreign investors and community residents.
Although foreign investors participating in the development of ancient villages can promote the ancient villages to the tourist market in a short period of time, they are often not conducive to the protection and sustainable development of the ancient villages.
Yuanjia Village in Shaanxi Province is a well-known rural tourism destination in the Guanzhong region. It focuses on rural folk life in Guanzhong. It was included in the second batch of traditional Chinese villages in 2013 and received 5 million tourists in 2017.
After the successful development of Yuanjia Village, a wave of investment in ancient villages and copying Yuanjia Village quickly emerged in the Guanzhong area. More than 70 villages in Shaanxi competed to imitate the "Yuanjia Village Model", but in the end they fell into low-level repeated construction and blindly copying. There are few winners in this strange circle.
The house is new and the road is new, but there is no increase in tourists.
Nowadays, many tourists sigh on the Internet, “All kinds of ancient villages have the same food, the same houses, and the same ancient streets. They lack the characteristics of rural tourism.”
In this regard, Ge Lei, vice president of the Tourism Marketing Branch of the China Tourism Association and executive general manager of CYTS Alliance Branch, told a reporter from the Beijing News that in the process of protection and development, ancient villages often lack positioning and top-level design, and are good at "copying." Not good at "creation", driven by short-term commercial interests, those villages with unique charm quickly become homogenized, and the phenomenon of "one thousand villages" is serious.
Secondly, Ge Lei pointed out that many ancient village developments lacked aesthetics and content. For example, obtrusive materials such as color steel tiles can be seen everywhere in the development of many ethnic minority villages, and even brick houses have been built on the vast grasslands; content On the one hand, the development of many ancient villages still stays in the thinking of "scenic area" and "farmhouse", lacking experience content that can be integrated, immersed, and consumed, making it difficult for tourists to feel "immersed".
The talents who can help ancient villages to solve the problems of "positioning, aesthetics, content" are also very scarce.
"Hollowing" makes ancient villages fragile
"Hollowing" is another dilemma in the protection of ancient villages.
On the one hand, in the process of accelerating urbanization, more and more ancient villages have been destroyed and disappeared. According to a set of China Ancient Village Conference data in 2017, the number of traditional Chinese villages has dropped sharply by nearly 920,000 in the past 15 years. It is continuously decreasing at a rate of 1.6 per day.
Some people in the industry pointed out that due to the backward protection and development of the ancient villages, the lagging economic development, the loss of young villagers, and only some old people staying behind, the "empty nest" phenomenon is serious, resulting in inability and lack of funds for repairs, weak infrastructure, and ancient villages. Fragile, the destruction is more serious.
For example, houses in many ethnic minority villages are mostly wooden structures. In the case of insufficient firefighting personnel and insufficient fire-fighting facilities, fires often cause village damage.
In January 2014, a fire broke out in Baojing Dazhai, Zhenyuan County, Guizhou Province. More than 1,000 houses were burned down. Baojing Dazhai is the largest Dong village in the northern part of southeastern Guizhou and was once one of the most complete Dong villages in China; 2014 In December 2005, a fire broke out in Jiuji Village, Jiuyang Township, Jianhe County, Qiandongnan Prefecture, Guizhou Province. Hundreds of houses were burned and more than 600 people were affected. Jiuji Miao Village is the largest Miao village in Jianhe County. Cultural Heritage Reserve List"; In February 2016, a fire broke out in Wenquan Village, Censong Town, Jianhe County, and more than 60 houses were burned down. Wenquan Village was once rated as one of the “30 Most Charming Ethnic Villages in Guizhou”.
What's more, the millennium ancient villages make way for development projects.
In 2014, Magu Village in Henan Province, known as the "First Cultural Relics and Ancient Villages in the Central Plains", was moved as a whole in order to cooperate with the construction of the "smart electrical appliance industrial park". The ancient village covering an area of more than 500 acres turned into loess and ruins. The seven immovable cultural relics in the village only preserved the Wang Family Temple and the Magu Guan Temple, which aroused widespread concern.
In addition to the decline and disappearance caused by insufficient development and protection capabilities, Zhang Jinshan pointed out that some foreign investors forced the relocation of the aboriginal villagers after looking at the resources of the ancient villages, and then encircled and merged to collect tickets, changing the way of life of the aborigines, and at the same time, the ancient villages It becomes a "hollow village" with no content.
Zhang Jinshan said that this method is not desirable. The protection of ancient villages should also pay attention to the interests of the indigenous villagers of the ancient villages. Indigenous villagers are the creators and the main body of the organic renewal of the ancient villages. The protection of the ancient villages should not be reduced for development and protection. The quality of life should emphasize the overall protection and maximize the sustainable development of ancient villages.
Expert: "revitalize" ancient villages, diversified sustainable development
Ge Lei said that the real charm of ancient village tourism is not only unique buildings and lively singing and dancing, but also lively fireworks and human touch. Therefore, the best protection for ancient buildings is to let them be used, which is the best for traditional culture. The "activation" of the village is to make it a part of life. The protection and development of ancient villages should be the systematic protection and sustainable development of "ecology, production and life".
In the protection and development of ancient villages in China, Hongcun Anhui is a typical successful case.
On November 30, 2000, Xidi and Hongcun Villages, Yixian County, Anhui Province were included in the World Cultural Heritage List; in 2011, Hongcun Village became a national 5A-level scenic spot, with ticket revenue exceeding 66 million yuan.
In the course of nearly 20 years of development, Hongcun has promoted and protected the ancient villages and Huizhou culture through the development of tourism.
Through the changes in Hongcun, we can see that protection is the first priority. After the success of the application, Yixian County issued the "Xidi and Hongcun World Cultural Heritage Protection and Management Measures in Yixian County" and "Implementation Opinions on the Protection Project of Chinese Traditional Villages in Yixian County". The "Yixian Chinese Traditional Village Project Department Joint System" and the "Yixian Chinese Traditional Village Project Construction Supervision System" have been introduced to promote the implementation of traditional village protection; signed an ancient house protection responsibility letter with the user or owner of the ancient house , Instructing villages to formulate village regulations and conventions to improve villagers’ awareness of protection; at the same time, rescue records and excavation and protection of folk folklore projects have been carried out, and a series of diversified tourism formats such as intangible cultural heritage experiences, tourism performances, boutique hotels and inns have been carried out , To form a sustainable development mechanism.
Regarding the development and protection of ancient villages, Ge Lei suggested that the development of ancient villages should not only be to collect tickets, but to solve the "flow", and then realize the flow of traffic through rich business formats.
In addition to architecture, folklore may also be an attraction, snacks may also be an attraction, festivals may also be an attraction... It is necessary to awaken people's yearning for the ancient village from the perspective of tourists.
There are more than 6,000 ancient villages in China, and there are still very few that have the real opportunity to be built into Wuzhen, Hongcun and other national ancient villages. Most ancient villages should rely on the rapid development of weekends and surrounding tours to build a leisure corresponding to the city. Space and life scenes have become the "dwelling life" choices for urban people to return to the countryside. The homestay format is the core element, and the transition from the sightseeing mode to the sojourn mode is also very important.
Ge Lei said that the fire may be an opportunity for the "Nirvana rebirth" of Wengding Village. Lijiang was also paid attention to by the earthquake and realized the rise of the tourism industry.
The Wengding Village has received nationwide attention this time. In addition to "responsibility", it is also necessary to systematically consider the restoration, reconstruction and development of Wengding Village-the buildings of Wengding Village no longer exist, but the people of Wengding Village are still there, and the Wa people The cultural vitality of the city is still there, and the demand of the tourism market is more real. The local government, villagers and tourism industry have every opportunity to build the "Wongding Village" that can enter the next four hundred years.