World Heritage: Can Protection and Tourism Development Have Both?

When more and more world heritages in China appear in the tourist propaganda films, more and more scenic spots in China are famous for being selected as world cultural heritages. Some people cheer, while others worry. Between the protection of world heritage and tourism development, China, as the third largest country of world heritage, is puzzled. Today, with the vigorous development of tourism in China, there is a contradiction that cannot be ignored-the excessive expansion of tourists and the protection of scenic spots listed as world heritage. Overloaded World Heritage In recent years, "holiday tourism" has been heating up continuously, which has caused many world heritages to be overloaded and received. For example, the Forbidden City in Beijing has received more than100000 visitors every day for several years before the Golden Week, breaking the historical record of the highest130000 visitors and exceeding the saturation 100%-200%. In fact, the appropriate value for the Forbidden City to receive tourists every day is only 30,000 to 40,000 people. Professor Luo, an architectural expert in Tsinghua University, pointed out that too many tourists will not only increase the possibility of direct accidental damage to ancient buildings, but also the exhaust gas generated during the activity will change the temperature and humidity in ancient buildings, which will have an irreparable impact on colorful paintings and sculptures that have been preserved for hundreds of years. In fact, the impact of tourism development on world heritage protection has attracted worldwide attention. UNESCO has identified tourism as one of the four major threats to world heritage. Due to air pollution, the masonry on the Acropolis has deteriorated, and the heavy losses caused by millions of tourists forced the Acropolis to stop opening to the outside world. The parking lots of tourist vehicles invaded the foreyards of some ancient buildings, causing obvious pollution (in hot and dry weather, the air conditioner had to be turned on all the time, which aggravated the air pollution); In some narrow pedestrian streets, rows of cars or motorcycles are parked, and so on. These are some practical problems and examples that need to be solved through constant communication. Many world heritage sites have to take measures to control the flow of tourists. According to reports, the Forbidden City has initially formulated a set of emergency plans to control the passenger flow within the allowable range, including measures such as limiting the number of teams entering the Forbidden City on the peak day of the long holiday, urgently closing some scenic spots, one-way diversion of narrow sections, and appropriate adjustment of tourist routes. Suzhou is discussing the promotion of world heritage garden tickets to control the number of tourists, while Old Town of Lijiang requires each tourist to pay tens of yuan for the protection of the ancient city. Professor Ryan Johnson, president of the International Architectural Association and head of the Department of Architecture of the University of Sydney, Australia, said that although entrepreneurs in the tourism industry promoted the development of tourism under the pressure of profit first, they often ignored the characteristics of the natural environment and improperly built buildings, parking lots and ancillary buildings in these places, which led to the invasion and occupation of the natural environment, thus destroying the unique style of those wonderful scenic spots and historical sites in the worst way. Big cities and historical sites in Europe, temples and cities in Asia, natural scenery and scenic spots in America and Africa are all very attractive. Attracting so many tourists (especially using modern means of transportation) will inevitably have a great impact on these places. The technologically advanced industrial society has its negative side. With the gathering of tourists, the impact on the natural environment is very complicated and disastrous. Many scenic spots along the Mediterranean coast have been greatly reduced due to indiscriminate occupation and construction; Similar changes have taken place in scenic spots along the coast of other countries. Ray johnson believes that a special problem in environmental protection is that the consequences of tourism are mixed with the process of transformation from traditional society to modern society. Bali, Malaysia, located between Java and Lombok, is rich in cultural relics and historic sites in its suburbs. Its natural scenery, the development of natural resources, towns and villages, and rare wooden temples have formed a harmonious unity. It was not until recent years that Bali became an open tourist destination. For a long time in the past, only a few interested tourists visited. Visitors must have accommodation and service facilities and travel around the country every week (coaches line up in front of the village or temple). The extravagant demand and supply that comes with tourism will inevitably affect the cultural and social structure of this place. As a result, the natural environment that attracts tourists will also be destroyed. This situation is not uncommon in some parts of China. Can protection and tourism development have China's world heritage? Now there are 29, ranking third in the world. The competition for world heritage is fierce. A country can only declare one item every year, except for expansion projects. World cultural heritage shows a nation's special contribution and outstanding achievements to all mankind, which is the basis for building a nation's self-esteem and self-confidence. As far as the heritage itself is concerned, there is a long history behind the world's natural and cultural heritage. Natural heritage can last for billions of years. Cultural heritage is like Zhoukoudian in Beijing for 500,000 years, the Forbidden City for nearly 600 years, and the youngest Summer Palace in China for 250 years. These heritages not only have their historical functions, but also have their practical functions. For example, the Forbidden City, whose historical function is the Forbidden City, is the place where emperors sit and lie, while its realistic function is the museum. However, with the rapid development of tourism today, the world heritage has a more direct practical temptation: once it is listed as a world heritage, this scenic spot will be favored by domestic and foreign tourists, followed by various investments in tourism, thus improving the visibility of the whole city and attracting more tourists. Therefore, many people regard tourism development as an unbearable burden of world heritage, and even think that contradictions are irreconcilable. However, some experts believe that there is no essential contradiction between them. "Tourism development and heritage protection are not necessarily opposite." Professor Geng, a famous expert on cultural relics and tourism research, believes that development and protection are not inevitable. It is originally an interdependent form of contemporary social and cultural activities, and the key is to grasp and treat it from the height of value understanding. Geng is the executive director of Beijing Tourism Society. He believes that tourism is the best cultural exchange activity for human beings. He believes that tourism expands people's living space and time, which is a very important demand of human beings. From this perspective, tourism is a very noble activity. Through this form, people have increased their knowledge, historical and cultural knowledge and improved their own quality. People know not only the present, but also the past and the future. This kind of communication is not contradictory to heritage protection. The problem is that at present, many people interpret tourism as an economic behavior and simply pursue interests; Some irresponsible practices that misinterpret and dwarf the world cultural heritage have caused contradictions and conflicts between development and protection. For example, he said that in the Summer Palace, he heard a tour guide tell tourists that the pebbles on this road were specially massaged for Empress Dowager Cixi. In fact, these pebbles were paved in the 1980s and have nothing to do with Cixi. Professor Geng, who used to be a senior engineer in the Summer Palace Park, is very opposed to the tour guide's practice of explaining history with some inferior and vulgar content. His nonsense and fabrication are dwarfing and misinterpreting our national culture, and are extremely irresponsible for our profession. World heritage is the common heritage of mankind, so it is necessary to study and understand its value. Yu Changjiang, director of Beijing Tourism Bureau, believes that on the one hand, it is necessary to improve and deepen the public's awareness of world cultural heritage and guide people's awareness of actively protecting world cultural heritage; On the other hand, strengthen management, improve the professional ethics and professional knowledge level of tourism managers and employees, and do a good job in heritage protection and utilization. Professor Luo, an architectural expert in Tsinghua University, believes that cultural relics and historical sites are inseparable from the development of tourism, and tourism is also inseparable from cultural relics and historical sites. Cultural relics play a role in spreading history through tourism. For example, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee announced the World Heritage and listed the famous cultural relics and natural landscapes of various countries in the World Heritage List, providing the most worthwhile visitors. Twenty-three cultural and natural heritages in China, including the Peking Man Site, the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and Suzhou Gardens, have been listed by UNESCO. Tourism is a very important and key way to play the role of cultural relics and historic sites, and it is also a very good form. If handled properly, the two can complement each other and complement each other. If you don't handle it well, you may lose both sides. The key is to exchange information, make scientific plans, make reasonable arrangements and act according to law. Over-exploitation needs to attract the attention of all sectors of society. At present, there is a phenomenon of blind over-exploitation of cultural relics and historic sites in many places. At the expense of the intrinsic value of cultural relics, blindly pursuing so-called economic benefits and tourism development is tantamount to killing the goose that lays the golden egg. For example, world heritage and cultural relics protection units are listed as tourism projects or rented for commercial development; The ubiquitous cableway has seriously damaged the natural landscape; Hastily building new scenic spots, ignoring the protection and utilization of cultural relics themselves; Abandon the truth for the fake, repair fake antiques at will, fabricate landscapes, and so on. Geng said, we should protect and utilize world heritage, but the value of these heritages is not only tourism value, but more importantly, the realistic function based on historical function will show its historical and cultural value and vitality in real life in a broader space, which is the theme of sustainable development and sustainable utilization of historical and cultural heritage. There are six world cultural heritages in Beijing, and Geng believes that their values include: First, these heritages are the important contents and reasons why Beijing has become a famous historical and cultural city in China and even the world. If Beijing does not have these six world heritages, it will be difficult to compare with Paris and Rome. Secondly, it is the main basis for formulating and realizing Beijing's master plan, and it is also the starting point of many regional plans. Beijing's overall planning, such as the Forbidden City and Jingshan Mountain, has played a great role as a fixed point. Tiananmen Square developed from the central axis. Beijing used to be 6.8 kilometers, but now it has to extend to both sides for more than 30 kilometers. Its starting point is the central axis of the Forbidden City. Organizations including traffic roads should also consider these scenic spots. Third, as a national political center, cultural center and international exchange center, Beijing is a landmark landscape and an ideal venue for activities. The emblem of the recent 2008 Olympic Games is the Temple of Heaven, and the end of the torch relay of the Athens Olympic Games is also in the Summer Palace. These world heritages should first be positioned on such a high standard. Geng said that world heritage is also an important protection content and construction achievement in Beijing's ecological environment protection; It is an indispensable highlight of the magnificent capital; It is an index of the quality of life of foreigners living and working in Beijing; It is an ideal atmosphere and place for patriotism education, spiritual civilization education and popular science education, and it is also the highlight of the 2008 Beijing High-tech Olympics and Humanistic Olympics. Regarding the attitude of protecting the world heritage, Geng Liutong emphasized three responsibilities: one is the responsibility for history and the responsibility for the ancestors who created high human values and civilization. Second, we should be responsible for the people now. The world heritage belongs not only to the people of China1300 million, but also to the people all over the world. Third, the key to being responsible for the future is to hand it over to future generations.