Are UNESCO World Heritage sites in China serving their

purpose? Perhaps they are, says a scholar. No, says another.

Wei Houkai

UNESCO tag a double-edged sword

China's Danxia Landform has been named a UNESCO World Heritage site, evoking cheers and worries from the people. The Danxia Landform consists of red bed characterized by steep cliffs. It is spread over six provinces in Central, South, East and Southwest China: Mount Langshan and Wanfoshan (Hunan), Mount Danxia (Guangdong), Taining and Guanzhishan (Fujian), Mount Longhushan and Guifeng (Jiangxi), Mount Jianglangshan (Zhejiang) and Mount Chishui (Guizhou).

Many people say the more than 1 billion yuan ($146.87 million) spent by the six local governments to earn the world heritage tag may not be worth it. They also question the money and efforts that local governments across the country are putting in to get the UNESCO stamp for 35 other sites.

But such people should have a balanced view, instead of blaming the local governments for spending astronomical amounts to win a UNESCO tag.

They have to understand that the world heritage honor is a hard-won and invaluable acknowledgement of the history and culture of a country. And the beautiful Danxia Landform deserves it. Besides, its new status would make it a popular tourist destination for tourists from home and across the world.

Bidding for the UNESCO World Heritage status, of course, requires huge funds.

But in return, it brings an honor that perhaps cannot be measured in terms of money despite the revenue it generates from the tourism and related industries.

A lot more tourists are expected to flock to the six provinces that the Danxia Landform is spread across. That will not only increase tourism revenue manifold, but also boost the economies of the six provinces.

The world heritage status, therefore, should be seen as a start to better governance by the six provinces, although the UNESCO tag will create enormous pressure on them.

First, now that the Danxia Landform has been declared a world heritage site, the six provinces have to spend more money and strengthen their management to maintain the area.

But since they have already spent more than 1 billion yuan, they may not have enough funds left in their budgets to do so properly. For example, the Xinning county government in Hunan spent about 400 million yuan to get Mount Langshan in the Danxia Landform world heritage site. The amount is double the county's yearly fiscal income of about 200 million yuan.

So, it will be a big problem for the Hunan government to realize the huge amount it spent on bidding for the world heritage status, let alone have enough funds to preserve the province's natural sites. The condition of the other local governments is not likely to be much better than Hunan's. This means they have to treat this issue seriously and raise more money by imposing entrance fees and commercializing the upkeep of the site.

In the past, bidding for world heritage status was more often than not a national affair and got the support of the entire country. But now that the country has 40 world heritage sites, people's enthusiasm seems to have waned from the time when they rallied for national pride to get the Great Wall and the Forbidden City the UNESCO stamp.

More world heritage status creates more pressure on local governments to preserve and manage the sites, because in such a situation tourism development becomes of second importance for them. And that may stunt economic growth. Hence, viewed on a grander scale, there is growing awareness for the preservation of natural and cultural sites in China.

People are less inclined to back governments' bids for more heritage sites to get the UNESCO stamp, for they assume it is a natural and logical process.

But the more world heritage sites are recognized in China, the more famous they would become in the wider world.

But that does not mean the central or local governments use the bidding as camps to determine their political performance and clear the path of some local officials to climb the career ladder.

Another question is how the local governments can ensure that people share the benefits of a site or building declared a world heritage site. To do that, they have to focus on four areas.

First, they should use the UNESCO honor to develop tourism and related industries such as catering and hotel services to create more jobs for the local people.

Second, they have to combine the efforts to remodel the basic facilities such as roads and sanitation, keeping the interests of the local people in mind.

Third, they have to build a long-term "grand-tourism" industry to get more tourists interested in the local culture, cuisine and other important local attractions.

And last, if local governments have to demolish or take over structures and neighborhoods for tourism development, they have to see to it that the displaced people are compensated and rehabilitated properly.

The author is deputy director of the Institute for Urban and Environmental Studies, affiliated to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

This is an excerpt of his interview with China Daily's He Bolin.

Quip Fang

Good effort in the wrong direction

The Danxia Landform recently became China's 40th world heritage site, leading to an upsurge in other places bidding for the UNESCO honor. About 35 Chinese sites, including the West Lake in Hangzhou, are trying to get the world heritage stamp from UNESCO.

The "heritage fever" seems to be born out of some local governments' passion for culture. But in total contrast to their apparent love for culture, some local governments have demolished (or are in the process of demolishing) numerous heritage sites. The "demolition fever" is stronger, because it has the backing of some local governments and property developers, and brings in ready money. Call it the power of GDP growth, if you will.

But the mad rush of some local governments to get sites in their areas the world heritage tag is driven by GDP growth, too. Many of them have spent tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions, of yuan for the purpose. For example, Xinning county of Hunan province has spent more than 400 million yuan to "package" Mount Langshan, one of the six Danxia Landform areas. Many would be surprised to know that the fiscal revenue of the county is only about 200 million yuan, and to win the bid, it secured a bank loan of 155 million yuan.

Such generous spending certainly entails greater returns. For instance, the heritage tag has boosted the tourism industry of the ancient city of Pingyao in Shanxi province. The local tourism industry's income, which accounted for barely 1 percent of the local GDP, increased by almost 13 times a year after it got the UNESCO stamp. That has boosted the local GDP growth too, just like the realty business is doing elsewhere.

The heritage stamp on sites, whether cultural or natural, is just to increase the incomes of local governments and the tourism industry. Most of the income from ticket sales goes into governments' coffers, and the money tour groups earn goes to pay their officials and other staff and to expand their business. What is left for maintenance of the sites is less than one-tenth of the income.

Focused on rapid economic growth, governments at all levels are exploiting the environment, and cultural and natural heritage sites. Then there are heritage sites that are very old, such as the Hanging Monastery in Shanxi, which could collapse under the heavy footsteps of tourists. Sadly, officials seem unconcerned about the long-term survival of such sites. The story of many a heritage site is one of shortsightedness, not different from the one about the goose that laid the golden egg.

Such commercialization of heritage sites - natural or cultural, national or regional - can have negative effects. Many of the sites are no longer the realm of the people but dominated by the local governments. Worse, the public has lost its right to walk into natural scenic spots free of charge.

Natural heritage sites are nature's gifts, and our ancestors passed down the cultural and historical ones to us. They are and always have been public property and should be accessible to us all, free. Our ancestors, especially literary figures, roamed the country freely in search of inspiration. They walked into forests and gardens, climbed mountains and ventured into deserts and rivers and lakes. They marveled at new places, appreciated the architecture and mixed with people to leave us the incredible legacy of their literary works. A heritage site is the bond that connects the past with the present, ancient with the modern.

But today most of those sites are walled, wired and reduced to scenic spots that can be seen only after paying an entrance fee. They have thus been alienated from the people. This is a disservice to the country's culture. The bidding for world heritage status should be aimed at preserving the sites, and not to only lure in the lucre. Once such sites are included in the list and framework of local economic development, they are bound to become the private property of the local governments.

Suppose some officials decide to take over a religious site and develop it for commercial use.

What will the followers of that religion do? Pay for praying there? Such absurd privatization is against the human spirit. Local governments defend their actions by citing the massive amounts of money they spend to get the heritage tag for a site. What they fail to understand is, despite all their efforts a heritage site remains public property. The money that governments' spend on the so-called upkeep of the sites is their share of responsibility for preserving our heritage and promoting our culture. Therefore, the heritage sites that local governments have walled up should be open to the public for free. Every citizen has the right to demand that, because such sites are the legacy of the people and the country.

The author is a research scholar with the Jiuding Public Affairs Research Institute, a civil think tank.

Editor: Xie Fang

(China Daily 09/06/2010 page9)