The Zhongtianmen (Mid-Heaven Gate) cable car system built in 1983 on Taishan Mountain was the first large-scale passenger cable car in China and brought huge economic benefits to the local tourism industry. According to State Council regulations, the original cable car system on the mountain should have been demolished at the end of the 1990s, but the local government and the Taishan Scenic Spots Administration Committee announced in 2000 that the cable car system would be expanded for the purposes of fire prevention, insect elimination and emergency aid. The transport capacity will be four times greater than at present when the expansion project is completed. Fifteen thousand square meters of the mountain already have been blasted away.
Taishan Mountain is located in the center of Shandong Province. Its main peak stands 1,545 meters above sea level. The magnificent “First Mountain Under Heaven” was listed as a World Natural and Cultural Heritage site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1987.
The cable car expansion project has aroused a heated debate on whether cable cars should be built in scenic zones. Fourteen well-known scholars have made a joint appeal to halt expansion of the cable car system from Zhongtianmen Station to Taishan peak. They argue it is contrary to existing regulations, and say the present construction should be demolished as soon as possible, vegetation at the mountain top restored, and the authenticity and integrity of the world natural and cultural heritage site kept intact. Among them are Hou Renzhi, an academician from the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Wu Liangyong and Meng Zhaozhen, academicians from the Chinese Academy of Engineering; Xie Ninggao, chairman of the World Heritage Site Research Center of Peking University; and Luo Zhewen, an expert in ancient architecture from the State Administration of Cultural Heritage. They all agree that Taishan Mountain is a traditional symbol of the Chinese people’s spirit and a treasure of humanity. The cable car expansion project would severely damage the mountain’s magnificent image and be a great loss to the world heritage site and the national interest.
Li Chenghe, an official with the Tourist Cable Car Co., which directly manages the expansion project, said the experts have opposed cable car construction on the mountain for two decades; their reports won’t affect the company’s day-to-day operations, the original cable car system is in operation and the extension also will be built.
In December 2000, the Regulations on the Protection and Administration of Taishan Mountain Scenic Site were formally promulgated. The regulations forbid advertising in the mountain’s main scenic spots and new or expanded projects in the mountain top area of 0.6 square km. Key construction projects in scenic spots must be approved by the provincial government. Construction carried out contrary to the regulations must be demolished within a stated period of time, and a fine of between 5,000 and 10,000 yuan paid. From this it can be seen that China has started to protect Taishan Mountain through local regulations.
How to handle relations between the development and protection of cultural heritage sites has become a hot topic. Cases of damaging or even destroying ancient relics to develop the local economy occur occasionally. How to solve the problem is an urgent task.
Cable Cars Threaten the World Heritage Site
(Xie Ninggao, chairman of the World Heritage Site Research Center of Peking University)
The State Scenic Spots Zone (State Park) system established in 1982 has brought huge changes to the development and administration of scenic spots in famous mountains. Meanwhile, many scenic spots have suffered severe damage under the impact of the market economy. The rampant construction of cable cars is one such example. Based on my observations of a dozen of years and a comparison of foreign and domestic regulations, I believe that cable cars seriously threaten the world heritage site in the following ways:
Damage to the land form. One-third of the surface of Moon-Viewing Peak on Taishan Mountain, an area of 19,000 square meters, was blasted away for the construction of the Yueguan Cable Car Station alone. The ruins of the peak can be clearly seen from 10-20 km away. The construction has caused the heaviest damage to the mountain in its history, and destroyed the authenticity and integrity of the topography of the mountain top.
Damage to vegetation and ecology. A swath of forest and vegetation of about 20 meters in width has to be destroyed below the cable car line; a large number of trees have to be felled to provide access to the cable car station and roads going down the mountain. Huge numbers of lower single-cell plants can never be restored.
A scar on the natural beauty of the scenery. The cable car, never in harmony with the natural scenery, becomes visual pollution. Travelers visit famous mountains to seek beauty, knowledge and mental relaxation. Hiking in world heritage sites and State scenic spots enables one to fully explore the sites’ scientific, aesthetic, historical and cultural value. The construction of the cable car has damaged the value of the world heritage site.
Endangering the original image of scenic spots. The cable car owner is always soliciting tourists for more profit, which leads to a crowded mountain top. Then merchants are tempted to open more stores and restaurants. The top of the mountain becomes a source of pollution and endangers the whole mountain. The original image of the world heritage site is fundamentally changed.
Not in accordance with the basic demands of tourism. Relevant local departments should have invested in outbound transportation construction and improved fundamental tourist facilities outside the scenic zone, but instead they cash in on transportation in the heart of the scenic zone at the cost of damaging the world heritage site. It used to take two or three days to visit the mountain, while now one or half a day is enough. When the cable car company profits, the locality loses.
A contradiction to the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage site. The aim of the world natural and cultural heritage site strategy is to reserve and protect the authenticity and integrity of the original relics for future generations. Profit-seeking development projects contradict the public service role and spiritual and cultural functions of the world heritage site.
The effect of building a cable car system is obviously to cash in at the cost of damaging the scenery. Excuses are fabricated for the construction: The cable car on Taishan Mountain is claimed to be for “insect elimination, fire prevention and economic development.” But according to our investigation, Six-year-olds and 80-year-olds and pulmonary tuberculosis patients walk up and down Taishan Mountain every day. For Huangshan Mountain, it is to “change the situation of ‘touring and accommodation on the mountain’ to ‘touring on the mountain and accommodation down the mountain’.” Actually, instead of reducing the number of beds on the mountain, the current three cable cars help to increase the number of star hotels, staff dormitories and various stores. A cable car was built on the Badaling Great Wall for “the pregnant and the disabled.”
No cable cars are allowed in national parks in the United States. The well-preserved natural scenery draws tourists from home and abroad. Each of America’s five mountains over 2,000 meters above sea level attract more than 2 million tourists a year. Mount Fuji in Japan stands 3,776 meters above sea level, more than two times the height of Taishan. The road stops at 2,000-odd meters, and there is no cable car or neat walking steps above that point, as there are on Taishan Mountain. A small path leads all the way to the top. The mountain attracts more than 2 million visitors annually. According to the age records of the climbers, the oldest climber was a 90-year-old woman. Do the Japanese have no money to build a cable car? Aren’t there any elderly in Japan?
Cable cars and other commercial entertainment facilities should be built in their proper place, not in scenic zones and world heritage sites. Some popular outdoor entertainment zones should be developed to cater to the needs of young people. Cable cars also are needed in some mountainous regions as a means of transportation. Cable cars are promising, but not in the wrong place.
The Existence of Cable Cars in Scenic Zones Is Reasonable
(Jiang Ning from the Taishan Tourist Cable Car Co. Ltd.)
Tourist cable cars first appeared in China in 1979. Since then, they have developed rapidly. Now there are almost 300 cable cars running in the nation. Most of the scenic zones have cable cars, those without them are working on them. Cable cars have worked positively in accelerating transportation modernization in the scenic zones and the development of tourism.
Cable cars have these characteristics: 1 they are strongly adaptable to the natural topography; 2 they save tourists time; 3 they are less affected by weather conditions; 4 they can be built according to the actual topography, as there is no need to construct bridges and culverts; 5 the small amount of earthwork required does little damage to the topography and landforms; and 6 they are driven by electricity, so there is no pollution.
Thus we can conclude that cable cars have apparent advantages over roads and stairways, and do less damage to the environment. Cable cars in scenic zones do not, as the opposing side says, destroy vegetation and landforms and affect the local ecological balance.
Taishan Mountain is not only a mountain, it also depicts culture handed down from ancient times. The magnificent 6,676 steps leading from the bottom to the top of the mountain appeared gradually, constructed by human power with primitive tools in different historical periods. Now the road and the cable car are open to the public. The process of the development of human civilization can be seen in the transportation on Taishan Mountain.
It is normal to want to shorten the length of one’s stay in a certain tourist site when the pace of life quickens and transportation is more convenient. The correct way to prolong the length of stay is to provide rich tourist products and quality service, instead of detaining tourists against their will by inconvenient transportation facilities. On the other hand, the cable car enables a certain number of visitors to go up the mountain who otherwise could not do so because of their personal condition or time limitations. The increase in the total number of tourists naturally accelerates the increase in tourist income.
Some experts say that climbing the mountain is like reading a history book, and the fun of mountain climbing lies in the process of hiking itself. They say those who cannot climb the mountain are few in number. But the reality is that different people have different tastes, and the needs of ordinary people cannot be ignored.
Relevant local departments made the decision to build the cable car mainly for the purpose of ensuring the safety of tourists at scenic sights in the peak season. The decision was not motivated by economic interests, as the opposing side says. Sunrise on the top of Taishan Mountain is one of the four major scenes on the mountain and also the core part of the local tourist culture. Many visitors start to go down the mountain after viewing the sunrise. They may crowd into the flow of visitors who just climb up the mountain. According to the business statistics of the Zhongtianmen Cable Car Station, 60 to 65 percent visitors go down the mountain by cable car, which indicates the cable car plays an important role in evacuating tourists from the mountain top. Compared to the safety function of the cable car, the economic benefit is just a side product.
(Beijing Review 04/19/2001)
