The Qiao Family Courtyard after being delisted: Villagers revealed that fake goods were rampant and the commercial street was demolished in one day

Due to the blessing of the legendary story of the Shanxi merchant family and the publicity effect of the film and television works "Raise the Red Lantern" and "Qiao Family Courtyard", the Qiao Family Courtyard in Qixian County, Shanxi Province is very popular. It has long become a famous tourist attraction. Especially in the past few years when high-speed rail became increasingly popular and domestic tourism gradually emerged, it was inevitable that it would be overcrowded during the Golden Week holidays.

There is a saying among travelers that "the imperial family has the Forbidden City, and the private houses have the Qiao family". However, two years ago, the Qiao Family Courtyard, which is regarded as Shanxi's tourism business card, was "delisted", that is, its 5A scenic spot level was banned. What happened in this scenic spot? After being delisted, is it possible for the Qiao Family Courtyard to return again?

The Qiao Family Courtyard is located in Qiaojiabao Village, Qi County, Shanxi Province. It was originally a family residence founded by Qiao Zhiyong, a financial tycoon during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. Later, it was passed down from generation to generation by the descendants of the Qiao family, and there were several additions, modifications and reconstructions. By the Republic of China, a complete castle-style residential system with rigorous layout and exquisite structure had been formed.

Starting in 1985, the Qiao Family Courtyard was opened as the Qixian Folk Museum and opened to the public the following year.

Since it was positioned as a museum at that time, it naturally had no particularly prominent commercial development and consumption plans, but a relatively simple model of visiting exhibitions. However, among the more than 5,000 folk cultural relics it owns, there are also exquisite products with both historical significance and aesthetic standards, such as the Ten Thousand Balls, the Rhinoceros Moonglass, and the Kowloon Lantern.

In 2001, the Qiao Family Courtyard was rated as a national key cultural relic protection unit, and has successively passed the assessments of 4A-level tourist attractions and national second-level museums.

Although there are many courtyard-type attractions in Shanxi Province that feature Shanxi merchants, the Qiao Family Courtyard was an early pioneer in development, with the 1991 "Raise the Red Lantern" and "Qiao Family Courtyard" in 2006 have successively promoted it. Until 2018, "Chengzhongtang" starring the descendants of the Qiao family was also broadcast, so it is quite competitive in the tourism market.

Coinciding with the gradual development of the high-speed rail network in those years, the huge potential domestic tourism demand was released, and the Qiao Family Courtyard also became popular, becoming the "golden business card" and "treasure bowl" of Shanxi tourism.

In essence, it is just the courtyard of a wealthy businessman. What is the attraction and attraction of Qiao’s courtyard?

There is a saying among travel enthusiasts - "Look at Shaanxi for underground cultural relics and Shanxi for above-ground cultural relics." This means that Shaanxi is very rich in tomb cultural relics, while Shanxi is famous for its large number of well-preserved above-ground ancient cultural relics. Famous for its architecture. The Qiao Family Courtyard and the Qiaojiabao Village where it is located are undoubtedly ancient architectural cultural relics with a long history and exquisite craftsmanship.

Currently available historical data show that Qiao Zhiyong began to build the Qiao Family Courtyard during the Qianlong period. However, the Qiao family settled in the local area and developed a village named "Qiao Family Fort". It happened during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, when Zhu Yuanzhang was in power.

Since Qiao Zhiyong's time, the Qiao family's business has grown bigger and bigger. By the time of Xianfeng and Tongzhi, it had reached the level of "traveling all over the world without staying in a shop". The semicolon even opened its doors in Japan and Russia, and its family assets reached tens of millions of taels. silver. Among the cultural relics in the courtyard is a pair of nine-dragon lanterns, which are said to be the reward of 300,000 taels of silver given by the Qiao family when Empress Dowager Cixi fled south.

When a wealthy merchant's family has a large family business and a large population, it is natural to expand the house. The Qiao family was neither short of money nor connections, so they bought the streets and alleys around their house, built a new courtyard, and turned the original streets and alleys into their own inner house. At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, the situation was unstable, and the Qiao family also had to consider the security of the compound, so they built additional watchtowers and observation holes.

By the time the Qiao family stopped building the house, the compound had already formed six large courtyards and twenty small courtyards, with ten-meter green brick walls all enclosed on all sides. It is said to be "two good fortunes interlocking with each other, and two happinesses within." "The complete pattern.

This is the reason why the Qiao Family Courtyard is known as the "Pearl of Northern Residential Architecture".

What's more, the Qiao Family Courtyard has been turned into a folk museum very early, which objectively avoids the problem of private construction and modification like other ancient buildings in Qiaojiabao Village. Its layout and architectural preservation are relatively more complete.

It is of course impossible for modern tourists to fully understand all aspects of the lifestyle of the wealthy Shanxi merchants when they visit the Qiao Family Courtyard. However, you can still feel the strict hierarchical old-style lifestyle through the architectural layout. The brick and wooden structures that can be seen everywhere in the courtyard also have sufficient aesthetic value.

By 2006, the income of the Qiao Family Courtyard had reached about 30 million yuan, while the total fiscal revenue of Qi County that year was only a few hundred million yuan. The benefits that the compound brought to the local area can be seen at a glance.

Starting from the end of 2011, Qiao Family Courtyard began to apply for a 5A-level scenic spot. By 2014, it successfully passed the assessment and became the fifth 5A-level scenic spot in Shanxi Province.

The "4A level" and "5A level" that people talk about are just customary names. The full name of this standard system is the quality classification of tourist attractions, and the tourism bureau takes the lead in the rating work.

Scenic spots recommended by local assessment agencies need to be reviewed and scored by third-party professional organizations in terms of transportation, infrastructure, safety and security, environmental protection, tourist reception, humanized services, etc. Only qualified candidates can obtain the 5A level. identified.

Simply put, 4A-level scenic spots represent national standards, while 5A-level scenic spots need to strive for excellence in all aspects to achieve world-class quality.

In turn, once a scenic spot has a 5A-level title, its weight and trust in the minds of tourism consumers will also be greatly increased.

The Qiao Family Courtyard successfully passed 5A, which seems to be a sign that the compound will become bigger and stronger. However, in less than two years, controversial news such as equity transfer and "selling oneself to a coal boss" pushed it to the forefront.

In the first half of 2016, after a public bidding transfer, 45% of the state-owned equity of the tourism company where Qiao Family Courtyard is located changed hands, and Jingshi Henghua became the new controlling shareholder of Qiao Family Courtyard. In the second half of the year, three more media companies were introduced to increase capital, increasing the registered capital of Qiao Family Courtyard from the previous 40 million yuan to 100 million yuan.

"Qiao Family Courtyard has sold itself out?" What will be the consequences of the change of ownership of the controlling stake? This was a common question during that period.

In 2018, with the advancement of the "price reduction order" in scenic spots, state-owned scenic spots across the country generally reduced prices for higher ticket prices, and further standardized ticket rules through off-season tickets, ticket-free periods, preferential rules, etc., which is equivalent to Give tourists more opportunities to get discounts.

Against this background, the non-positive effects of Qiao Family Courtyard being controlled by private enterprises soon became apparent. Shanxi Province has decided to reduce the price of tickets for state-owned attractions in the province by 15%. Some key attractions such as Yungang Grottoes, Pingyao Ancient City, Hukou Waterfall, etc. will also be reduced again and again.

With peers for comparison, the ticket price of Qiao Family Courtyard is particularly eye-catching.

Others have compared vertical and horizontal data and believe that a ticket to the Qiao Family Courtyard costs 135 yuan. This price is enough to visit a large area of ??Mount Wutai where the temple is located. The Jinci Temple has unique ancient buildings from the Song Dynasty. , the ticket is only 80 yuan; not to mention that in 2008, the ticket for the same Qiao Family Courtyard was only 40 yuan.

Ten years later, the compound is still the same compound, but the tickets have tripled. What's more, at the same time, the travel experience has not only not improved, but has worsened. Tourists who have been there generally report that the scenic spot can be visited in more than an hour, and the commercial atmosphere is too strong. Businessmen stand directly in the middle of the road to attract customers. "It is not worth the price, and it does not look like a five-star scenic spot."

Amid all the chaos and negative news, it is not incomprehensible that the Qiao Family Courtyard was delisted from the 5A level in 2019 (commonly known as "delisting").

According to the "Measures for the Management of Quality Grades of Tourist Attractions", the rating of scenic spots is not a one-and-done deal. The competent authorities will review the scenic spots with high complaint rates through unannounced visits and other investigation methods, and review them as appropriate. Provide warnings, rectification within a time limit, delisting and downgrading and other corresponding actions.

As of June this year, there have been 306 scenic spots in 39 batches approved by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism as 5A-level scenic spots. Among them, in addition to the Qiao Family Courtyard, there are also scenic spots such as Shanhaiguan, Orange Island, Shenlong Gorge, etc. that have been delisted. As for the scenic spots that have received warnings and rectification, there are even more scenic spots.

So, what is the biggest problem in Qiao Family Courtyard?

Tang Xiaoyun, deputy director of the China Tourism Academy, concluded that "the internal system management of the scenic spot is chaotic, and the service level and quality are not high." Since it cannot meet the standards of a 5A scenic spot, it will naturally be cancelled. title.

Some people in the industry said that the biggest reason for the sharp decline in Qiao Family Courtyard’s tourism experience and reputation among tourists was that the operators excessively pursued maximizing commercial interests, and fishing in the lake led to a backlash from users.

After the delisting decision was issued, the local government quickly responded with feedback and rectification. The compound was immediately closed for rectification, and the commercial shopping street that had been a source of constant complaints from tourists was demolished overnight. However, the negative impression left on users cannot be recovered overnight.

In fact, before the delisting, tourism practitioners were not completely unaware of the changes in word-of-mouth. Some locals once told the media that when the Qiao Family Courtyard caught fire, there was constant passenger flow all year round. In the summer, popsicles were sold, and a truckload of popsicles arrived almost instantly. However, in recent years, the passenger flow has obviously decreased. Few people just come and leave, unwilling to stay longer let alone spend money.

Moreover, some villagers have revealed that fake goods are rampant in the store. Under such circumstances, one can imagine what the reputation will be like.

The over-commercialization of the Qiao Family Courtyard has led to a poor experience. This is actually a common problem in many scenic spots across the country.

For example, the blind expansion of scenic spots for commercial purposes has made commercial shopping streets the only way for tourists. The business projects are seriously homogenized. The snacks sold in scenic spots across the country are similar. Most of the tourist products are wholesaled from Yiwu, and they have the same name. Just sell it as a local specialty...

All kinds of chaos, in the end, are all due to the same reason - putting money first, and only thinking about making money once, fishing in the lake without any vision, from then on The possibility of long-term operation is not considered.

This is also the reason why the Ministry of Culture and Tourism controls the scenic spots through follow-up visits and corresponding processing. Many scenic spots regard "reaching 5A" as a short-term task. When rating, they have high standards and strict requirements. After there were no worries, all kinds of tricks started to appear. This situation obviously deviates from the original intention of developing tourism.

However, whether it is a warning or delisting, it cannot actually be called a "punishment" for the scenic spot, but more of a pragmatic and responsible approach to consumers. Juzizhou and Shanhaiguan, which were previously delisted, have also returned to the ranks of 5A scenic spots through internal rectification and re-evaluation.

Qiao Family Courtyard is no exception. The reason for its delisting is management problems on the part of the operator, but the value and visibility of the scenic spot itself will not be reduced as a result. It’s just that passing the 5A level review itself is not easy. It took Orange Island one and a half years to return to 5A, and Shanhaiguan took more than three years.

After Qiao Family Courtyard was delisted, it was again affected by the COVID-19 epidemic. The latest official notice shows that the scenic spot has clearly limited the visiting time and recommends that tourists keep a safe distance of 1.5 meters between themselves. The epidemic background will inevitably have an impact on the development of scenic spots. How long will it take for the Qiao Family Courtyard to stand up? This depends on the local authorities and operators themselves.

"The 5A scenic spot of Qiao Family Courtyard was delisted: the ticket price increased from 40 yuan to 138 yuan, and he sold himself to the "coal boss"" Daily Economic News

"Qiao Family Courtyard was delisted ：After Capital Sweeps》Sanlian Life Weekly