Symbiotic Cultural Heritage Tourism
TILL recently, China’s coastal southeastern provinces have reaped the greatest benefits from the reform and opening- up policy sin ce it came into effect in 1978. But now the inland and western re - gions are getting a look- in. The Belt and Road Initiative, prop osed in 2013, promises fresh development opportunities for China’s c entral and western regions, especially in light of their abundant cultural and tourism resources.
In earlier times the oasis city of Zhangye in arid Gansu Province was a pivotal trade center on the ancient Silk Road. It was later a garrison headquarters along the famous Hexi (meaning west of the Yellow River) Corridor commercial route. Millennia ago, Chinese merchants trudged with their wares along this trail to what is now Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, bordering Gansu, on to Central Asia and eventually Europe. The name Zhangye – which means open arms – is testament to its bridging connotation at that time.
Located between Inner Mongolia to its north and the plateau province of Qinghai to its south, Zhangye has five counties under its jurisdiction. It covers a total 42,000 square kilometers, an area equivalent to that of Switzerland, although with a far smaller population – 1.28 million compared to Switzerland’s 8.2 million.
Now, thanks to the Belt and Road Initiative, that the ancient Silk Road has re-entered the trading spotlight and there is rekindled interest in this commercial route, Zhangye has every reason to expect more visitors to the city. Consequently even more must be done to preserve Zhangye’s cultural heritage.
Cache of Cultural and Historical Wealth
Zhangye is a cornucopia of cultural and historical treasures, yet it is not at all well known among overseas visitors. The Giant Buddha Temple in the southwestern part of the city has been under state protection since 1986. An outstanding example of the city’s ancient architectural gems, it is a brimming vault of historical artifacts and receives tens of thousands of visitors every year.
Built in 1098, this ancient edifice is the sole imperial temple extant of the Western Xia Dynasty ( 1038- 1277). Its main building, the wooden Giant Buddha Hall, remains intact to this day, and contains Asia’s largest indoor reclining wood-framed clay statue of Sakyamuni – 34.5 meters in length and 7.5 meters broad at the shoulder. The Buddha’s facial expression differs depending on the position of the viewer. When standing in front of the Buddha’s head his eyes appear heavy lidded but open, and
he wears a slight smile. Seen from his feet, however, the Buddha appears fast asleep. Behind Sakyamuni stand his 10 attendants, flanked by 18 Arhats.
On the temple walls are murals depicting scenarios from the classic novel Journey to the West and the Classic of Mountains and Seas. Behind the Giant Buddha Hall is the sutra library, repository for more than 6,800 volumes of Buddhist scripts, amassed since the Tang ( 618- 907) and Song ( 960- 1127) dynasties. Most valued among them is the Tripitaka written in gold and silver powder, which Ming Emperor Yingzong ( 1427- 1464) presented as a gift to the temple.
Gaotai County in northern Zhangye is another popular tourist destination. Site of the ruins of the ancient Camel City, it was a main distribution hub along the Silk Road and also capital of the Northern Liang (397-439), a regime that a branch of the Huns established. Although only fragments of its earthen wall have survived, the city is still the best preserved capital of that time. It was put under state protection in 1996.
The magnificent exhibits on display at the county museum transport visitors to times long past. Among them are paint- ed bricks exhumed from local tombs of the Eastern Han (25-220) to Tang (618907) dynasties. The motifs they bear – in black, light red, and sepia – reflect the daily life and work, social norms and customs, games and pastimes, garments, and culinary items of those times. From an academic standpoint, they are of inestimable historical value.
A Well-Kept Secret
The Lonely Planet, most widely read travel guide, devotes just two brief paragraphs to Zhangye. This is in sharp contrast to the extensive coverage it gives Dunhuang, 600 kilometers distant but also on the Hexi Corridor, whose grottoes, particularly those in the Mogao Caves, are now UNESCO world heritage, and receive hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. Zhangye draws far less attention.
“Other than oceans, you can find all topographic features here,” Mayor Huang Zeyuan of Zhangye said. This is an entirely valid claim, as witnessed by the sprawling national wetland park by the Heihe River in the north, which is a patchwork of marshes, lakes and rivulets. Just 15 kilometers southward from central Zhangye is an expanse of rolling sand dunes, an extension of the Gobi Desert, and towering snowcapped mountains float on the horizon. The dense forests and brooks on Yanzhi Mountain in Shandan County make it a hiker’s paradise, and the national forest park in the eastern part of the city set off the distinctive multi-color Danxia landforms to perfection.
Zhangye is also home to China’s sole Yugur community. The middle section of the Hexi Corridor, where the fertile steppes unfurl towards Qilian Mountains, is the traditional dwelling place of this ethnic group. The local population includes people from 38 of China’s 56 ethnic groups, the largest among them the Yugur, Mongolian, and Tibetan ethnicities. They have lived here in peace and harmony for generations.
Mayor Huang hopes that the Belt and Road Initiative will make manifest to the rest of the nation and the world as a whole Zhangye’s immense cultural and natural resources. “Our goal is to become a tourist resort of international standing,” the mayor said, “but we must be fully cognizant of the value of our cultural heritage before we can promote it.” This entails still better protection of its historical sites and places of natural
The local population includes people from 38 of China’s 56 ethnic groups, the largest among them the Yugur, Mongolian, and Tibetan ethnicities.
interests.
A salient example is the Giant Buddha Temple. That it largely retains its original shape is largely thanks to the local authority’s meticulous endeavors. Certain time- honored sites in China have been gaudily painted or crudely rebuilt in the process of their maintenance and restoration, so defacing them and sullying their ethos of antiquity. When the pigment peeled off the beams in the Giant Buddha Hall of the Giant Buddha Temple, local architects replaced it, inch by inch, in the traditional technique. To protect this handiwork, the temple administration also installed muted lighting in the hall and prohibited flash photography.
When the three- year restoration project was complete, some locals complained that the temple looked no different, according to temple tour guide Zhou Rongduo. “We take comments like these as commendations,” she said. People now have the right attitude towards antique restoration. “They understand that the aim of preservation is to restore the original appearance rather than give it a new look according to contemporary aesthetics. Our mission is not to beautify, but to conserve venerable excellence,” Zhou said.
“Our priority is to integrate tourism industry with cultural heritage protection,” local tourism chief Yuan Deping said. “Cultural heritage protection doesn’t mean insulating historical sites and ancient artifacts. Opening them to the public actually facilitates better protection, because being adapted to tourist resorts saves old buildings from demolition.”
The environment is another key issue, and a highlight of Zhangye’s development plan. The city’s wetland park is an organic example of positive interaction between the tourism sector and environmental protection, Yuan said. A large swathe of land in the northern part of Zhangye was set aside as a nature reserve, and the lake that was dug on the bank of the Heihe River rapidly became the habitat of many species of fowl. Modern amenities, such as vacationing houses, a tennis court, cycling trails, a gymnasium and a museum, soon followed.
More Publicity
The world at large should be introduced to the distinct historical and cultural appeal of Zhangye, and the local government is doing what it can to make this happen. “We intend to attract the interest of Western tourists, particularly the youth,” Mayor Huang said. Media campaigns, especially on the Internet, are spreading the word. The city recently produced a documentary film on the Hexi Corridor, on the assumption that well- composed shots and pictures say far more than could a whole squad of translators.
There is hope that visitors to the neighboring Dunhuang Grottoes will break their journey in Zhangye. For this reason Danxia Mountain, setting of Chinese auteur Zhang Yimou’s 2009 film A Simple Noodle Story, plays a starring role in the media campaign. The mountain’s sandy rocks are a mélange of red, gold and orange, and attract droves of photographers all year round. There are plans to build a photography museum on the mountain, along with the country’s largest photography club. The local authority has purchased 800 items to go on exhibit at the museum, and is researching photographic mountain trails.
To woo young visitors, the Zhangye local government has laid a car-racing route that extends through to the Gobi Desert, compiled a program for camping and hiking buffs, organized snow mountain tours, and also offered vacations in the country’s largest horse pasture.
“All our efforts are directed towards protecting our native culture,” Mayor Huang said. “Culture is the soul of tourism, and gives it meaning. The Silk Road bestowed on us a cultural heritage that was jointly created by Asian and Western civilizations, and is of great value to both sides.” He concluded that at a time when innovation, opening-up and inclusiveness are the most frequently-heard catchwords, people must also cultivate a proper understanding of the value of our cultural heritage, and that it takes priority over promoting the new and innovative.
The Belt and Road Initiative has turned the national and world spotlight once more on the old towns, Zhangye included, along the ancient trade route. It acts as a stimulus to local tourism industry, and also to fresh endeavors to protect the cultural heirlooms these towns contain, and which they indeed constitute.