Managing intangible cultural heritage in the context of tourism: Chinese officials’ perspectives

Abstract

Government plays a key role in addressing the tension between the protection and the use of heritage in tourism. However, the diverse perspectives of heritage officials have not been well researched, particularly in regard to intangible cultural heritage (ICH) in the context of tourism. China is typical of a country where there is an obvious tension between protection and commodification of ICH for tourism. This research has studied the perspectives of officials from national to local levels in regard to the relationship between protection (in terms of the concepts of authenticity and integrity) and commodification of the ICH in Lijiang, a popular heritage tourism area in China. The research reveals the diversity and stratification of the officials’ perspectives in China. While the national ICH policy exerts profound influence in a top-down manner, the officials at the middle and lower levels mediate any divergence between the written policy and its implementation. In particular, local officials are more sympathetic to tourism commodification of ICH. As well as providing empirical evidence of the diverse understandings of individual heritage officials, this paper also contributes to the critical study of the ICH management system in China.