MOUNTAIN VILLAGES, CULTURAL HERITAGE AND TOURISM                         

In mountain villages, people have a life of hard work, with little health security and education.

The consequence is often emigration, with consequent loss of cultural heritage (traditional house style, cultivation landscape, dresses, handicrafts and language and traditions).

The cultural heritage of villages is usually neglected, as people think only of important historical monuments in the cities; but now that the traditional aspect of the cities is largely lost, it becomes important to safeguard the hundreds of villages which keep their traditional aspect, together with the culture of the people inhabiting them.  This tradition, apart from being important for the identity of the villagers themselves, is an important asset for tourism.

Tourism could be a way to give the peasants in those poor areas an extra income to improve their livelihood, and at the same time can be a way to preserve their cultural heritage.

In fact tourism can be an important resource for peasants in mountain areas, complementing their agricultural production, and a tool against poverty and emigration, as has been discussed in particular in a recent conference in Hue (Vietnam), and has been realised in some cases both in Italy and in China.

On the other hand, tourism can be a source of trouble, as loss of cultural traditions, environmental degradation, social tensions, begging and prostitution.

It is then useful to study both successes and failures of some present situations in both countries, in order to elaborate suggestions for better livelihood in mountain areas of China, and for alternative forms of tourism for chinese visitors in Italy. Such a programme would involve sociology, economics, cultural anthropology and architecture.

Also, important economic aspects are: how the resources coming from tourism are distributed, do local people manage this activity, etc. Good examples in Italy could be found for example in some mountain areas,with family guesthouses, and so-called "agro-tourism" in many parts of the country; similar conditions can be found in some villages in Yunnan province and Guangxi region. Some bad examples should also be studied, inorder to learn how to avoid their problems. All this work could then be collected, possibly in the proceedings of a workshop or conference which should elaborate suggestions for a few pilot projects involving some villages in poor areas where small-scale locally-managed initiatives of this kind have not yet been realised.

Interest in such activities have been expressed by the University of Bologna (Italy),  CBIK (an NGO in Kunming), ASIA-Amdo (an NGO from Italy), the Ministry of Information and Culture of Vietnam, some italian architects, the Institute for Scientific Studies of the Cultural Heritage of CAS, etc

We are trying now to set up a collaboration among our three
countries on scientific studies on village cultural heritage and tourism with the following aims:

- Make an overview in some mountain areas of China of the heritage to be safeguarded: architecture, natural and human-made landcape, and immaterial culture
- Study how the traditional houses and environment can be made suitable for a modern life withoput losing its cultural and aesthetic characteristics. 
- Understand how tourism can be a source of income and better livelihood
for poor farmers, particularly in mountain areas.
- Understand how it can help at the same time to preserve the cultural
heritage, both tangible (architecture, artisan works etc.) and
intangible (language, traditions).
- understand how other activities, more or less linked with tourism, as handicrafts or particular crops (herbs, etc), can also complement the income of farmers. 
- to promote, both for italian tourists coming to Asia and to tourists
from Asia to Italy, forms of culturallly and environmentally friendly
rural tourism, which profits mainly to the local people.

First of all, we think that the work should start with an exchange of
student theses: italian students coming to Asia to write theses on
social, cultural or economic studies on sustainable tourism, and chinese
and vietnamese students doing theses on similar subjects in Italy.
In fact this has already started, as prof. Lavarini has already sent one
thesis student for a visit to Guizhou and Yunnan. A student from UIBE 
(Beijing) has done a thesis on Tourism in Alto Adige (Italy, with 
University of Bolzano) and Yunnan. Please anyone who 
has suggestions about thesis subjects, propose them. 
We hope to get funding for stages in Italy from local tourist offices
who want to promote their offer (I hope prof. Lavarini can help in looking 
for support from them), while the cost of living in rural areas of  China and 
Vietnam is very low and can be supported by the italian students themselves.
Following this, whenever there is the occasion of getting some support,
pilot projects could be realised in the mountains of China and Vietnam,
a network of research and information formed and possibly meeting in
some conferences.
Already positive comments have been received from UNESCO and from the Yunnan government. 
The present message aims at beginning to form this network: for the
moment I take the initiative to begin, and then I shall leave the 
coordination to the specialists.

I add some links to web pages which might be of interest to you:
http://www.world-tourism.org/sustainable/da/hue2004.pdf
http://www.world-tourism.org/step/menu.html
http://www.mtnforum.org/apmn
http://www.cbik.org
http://www.ecoyunnan.org/Jishaweb/tempnote.htm
http://www.asia-onlus.org/Ecotu.htm
http://www.unescobkk.org/index.php?id=1077
CBIK/traditionaldwellings.html

A draft received from M. Miegge   

A collection of links, prepared by M. Miegge 

R. Coisson, 2006-4-4