*Article* **Developmental Sustainability through Heritage Preservation: Two Chinese Case Studies**

**Xiao Song 1, Kee-Cheok Cheong 2, Qianyi Wang 3 and Yurui Li 4,5,\***


Received: 20 March 2020; Accepted: 28 April 2020; Published: 3 May 2020

**Abstract:** Cultural heritage is a vital part of a society's existence. This role has particular relevance for China, with arguably one of the largest stocks of cultural assets, tangible and intangible, in the world. Recognizing the tension between cultural preservation and economic development as a general context, this paper examines the specific additional challenges China faces in its rush towards economic development. In providing both generic and China-specific contexts, this paper has as its objective to understand how Chinese policy-makers, both central and local, attempt to resolve the contest between cultural preservation and economic development, specifically rural rejuvenation. Through two case studies—of Lijiang in Yunnan province and Rizhao in Shandong province—this paper shows contrasting strategies to leverage local intangible cultural assets. Comparing these strategies reveals both the advantages and challenges inherent in each. A successful strategy captures the benefits of cultural tourism while minimizing its costs.

**Keywords:** rural revitalization; rural tourism; heritage preservation

#### **1. Introduction: The Role of Cultural Heritage Preservation**

Cultural heritage, defined as "the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of society inherited from past generations" [1] has long had a legitimate claim to be a major, albeit non-material, dimension of human well-being because it embodies "all the shared products of a given society" [2,3]. UNESCO itself notes that " ... heritage is a valuable factor for empowering local communities and enabling vulnerable groups to participate fully in social and cultural life." (https://en.unesco.org/ content/preserving-our-heritage). Thus, the original focus on monuments and material artifacts from Western civilizations has been greatly expanded to encompass cultural expressions in the form of objects as well as processes [4].

UNESCO's recognition, through its 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), is particularly significant for Asia, where many traditions and practices are passed on from generation to generation verbally and through apprenticeships [5] (p. 21). It is of vital importance to China, with its huge inventory of cultural heritage assets from the country's millennia of history and vast geographical size. The large number and variety of experiences provide relevant lessons for situations in other countries and contexts. Considerable research exists on ICH in China [6–8] but there is no agreemen<sup>t</sup> on the success of China's e fforts [9–11] in ICH preservation.

This paper has as its primary objective to provide a coherent narrative of China's changing strategies to capture the benefits from leveraging intangible cultural heritage tourism. Under this overarching framework, case studies of specific strategies are examined in detail to facilitate comparisons of the benefits and challenges each strategy produces. This is also how this paper is structured. The next section sets the general discussion linking heritage protection with economic development. The China situation provides the specific country context. In Section 4, analysis is undertaken of the evolution of cultural heritage tourism with sustainability as a long-term goal. Section 5 describes the two case studies and their comparison. Section 6 concludes.
