A declaration calling for the establishment of a new national
administrative system to oversee both cultural heritage sites and
the cultural tourism industry was passed during an international
conference on Friday.
The Shaoxing Declaration outlines a new governance structure to
put heritage and tourism management under integrated control and
empower it to develop and implement guidelines such as standards
for the protection of heritage sites and surrounding areas.
The system would also manage access at heritage sites to
preserve authenticity while meeting the needs of visitors, and
would ensure part of the profits and revenue from tourism is
reinvested into conservation of the sites, said the
declaration.
Although tourism was seen as a way to preserve heritage for
increased revenue, experts said unregulated tourism development
threatens heritage efforts, particularly authenticity.
For example, in the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes in Northwest China's
Gansu Province, overcrowding during peak season adversely affects
the usually stable micro-environment of the caves, said Fan Jinshi,
director of the Dunhuang Research Institute.
The three-day conference finished on Friday in Shaoxing of East
China's Zhejiang Province.
In a related development, the State Council has listed the
Spring Festival, Peking Opera, acupuncture, the Legend of Madame
White Snake and Shaolin Kungfu in the first batch of "intangible"
cultural heritage of the country, Xinhua reported on Friday.
The list contains 518 items in 10 categories folk literature,
folk music and dance, traditional opera, ballad singing, cross
talks, acrobatics, fine arts, traditional handicraft, traditional
medicine and folk customs the State Council announced on its
website on Friday.
The 518 items were selected by a jury organized by the Ministry
of Culture and the Academy of Arts of China from more than 1,300
candidates across the country.
(Xinhua News Agency June 5, 2006)
