MCLC: Tibet theme park

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: Tibet theme park
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Source: The Guardian
(7/6/12):http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/06/china-plans-theme-park
-tibet

China plans £3bn theme park in Tibet
Authorities want to attract 15 million tourists to Tibet per year but
local groups worry about damage to traditional culture
By Tania Branigan 

Chinese officials have announced plans to build a £3bn Tibetan culture
theme park outside Lhasa in three to five years.

Authorities see developing tourism as crucial to the economic future of
Tibet and have set a goal of attracting 15 million tourists a year by
2015, generating up to 18bn yuan (£1.8bn), in a region with a population
of just 3 million.

But Tibetan groups have expressed concern that the surge in tourism has
also eroded traditional culture and that the income has economically
benefited Han Chinese more than Tibetans.

Ma Xinming, deputy mayor of the city, told journalists that the park would
cover 800 hectares (1980 acres) on a site just over a mile from the
centre. He said it would improve the Tibetan capital's attractiveness to
tourists and be a landmark for its cultural industry, state news agency
Xinhua reported.

The mayor said it would include attractions themed around Princess
Wencheng – the seventh-century niece of a Tang-dynasty emperor who married
a king from Tibet's Yarlung dynasty – whose tale has been embraced by
Chinese authorities as a parable of ethnic harmony.

The park will include outdoor shows about the princess, along with other
educational and entertainment facilities. Business and residential
districts would also be included.

Ma said the park would also reduce tourist pressure on the Jokhang Temple
and the Barkhor in the heart of old Lhasa, helping to protect the city's
heritage.

According to state media, the number of visitors to the region rose by
25.7% year-on-year in the first five months of 2012. The tourism bureau
has said Tibet expects 10 million tourists this year – up one million from
last year – with tourism revenues growing to 12bn yuan. But foreigners
were last month indefinitely banned from visiting, amid growing tension.

The announcement came after two Tibetan men set fire to themselves in
Lhasa. Tibetan areas across western China have seen a spate of
self-immolations, with those involved protesting against Chinese policies.

Officials in China often see theme parks as a way to develop tourism,
though many have failed to attract the investment and visitors they
anticipated. Whether the Lhasa government ends up building the project on
the massive scale envisaged remains to be seen.

Professor Robert Barnett, an expert on Tibetan culture at Columbia
University, said that while some officials had talked about
environmentally and culturally appropriate tourism in Tibet, "this
represents a nail in the coffin – symbolically and perhaps practically –
of attempts by Tibetans and Chinese to promote that."

He added: "To recoup that cost, you have to have tourism on an
unimaginable scale."

Barnett said Tibetans might well go to the theme park themselves, but
would also be likely to question whether it was good for their culture and
worth the huge investment.

"They are very acutely aware of these issues ... but I am not sure they
have any form to ask them publicly," he said.

Xinhua reported last month that officials have also earmarked more than
400m yuan to develop tourism in Nyingchi prefecture in southeastern Tibet,
renowned for its scenic beauty.

In addition to creating an international "Swiss-style" tourism town, the
schemes will involve building 22 "model villages", where tourists will be
able to enjoy homestays. Critics have warned the plan could damage the
fragile environment.