Jiuzhaigou National Park is a nature reserve in the Northern part of Sichuan, China. It is literally known as the "Valley of Nine Villages". In 1992, it was declared as a UNESCO World Heritage and Cultural Site. It is well-known for its multi-level waterfalls and colourful cystal-clear lakes and not forgetting the colourful cultures of the indigenous groups residing there.
During the last vacation, I went to Jiuzhaigou County with my family, and boy, was I amazed with how nature has worked its wonder. Jiuzhaigou County is definitely like what the travel agencies have described in the newspapers ; A Fairyland on Earth. The natural landscape there is indeed picturesque. I visited this place during Summer. One can visit Jiuzhaigou in any of the four seasons, as the park opens all year round.
One of the creation of nature that I was very amazed with ; The Mirror Lake.
Indigenous groups
The two main indigenous groups that can be found in Jiuzhaigou County are the Baima Tibetans and the Qiang minority.
Baima Tibetans have been living in Jiuzhaigou for generations. They are well-known for their unique costumes and singing styles. They carry out a very strict marriage system, which is they intermarry within their tribe only. Polygamy, whereby a person can have more than one spouse, regardless of their gender, is allowed in their tribes. Commonly seen in Jiuzhaigou County, few siblings “share” a wife, or a man will have more than one wife. Baima Tibetans plant maize, Qingke Barley and Chinese broad beans for a living.
The history of the Qiang minority date back to 4000 years ago. Today, the descendants of the nomads are scattered around Western Sichuan. Many of the customs and beliefs, which formed the identity of Qiang, have been side aside since the start of the communist rule in China. In the mountains of Western Sichuan today, as many as 50,000 Qiang people have been grouped under the 'Tibetan' nationality. For many years, the Qiang have been practising a worship using white stones. In rural areas of Jiuzhaigou County, one can see many white stones piled up on the corner of the Qiang rooftop or at the entrance of their house to protect their village. Qiang minority have four separate languages and eight dialects.
Qiang minority celebrating the Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival.
Cultures
Roaming around Jiuzhaigou National Park, one would be able to see colourful prayer flags hanging outside the Tibetan villages. The prayer flags which are coloured : blue (sky), white (air), red (fire), green (water) and yellow (earth) are used to promote peace, compassion, strength and wisdom. They are hung because the Tibetans believe that when the wind blows, the goodwill in the prayers and mantras written on the prayer flags will spread to everyone.
The house of the Tibetans consist of three storeys normally. The first storey is used for the raising of livestocks. The second storey is used to worship the god. Tibetans believe that the third storey is the nearest to the sky, so they stay on the third storey in order to receive the blessings from the god.
I had the honour to visit a Tibetan family, they were very hospitable. They served us authentic Tibetan cusines like stir-fried yak meat, Sha Balep (a central Tibetan flatbread cooked on a skillet), butter tea and Qingke Liquor. The food did not really suit my taste, nevertheless, it was an unforgettable experience for me.
The altitude of Jiuzhaigou Valley is about 2000m above sea level, which is considered to be high, thus the climate here is really cold. In this cold climate, only a few crops are able to be grown here. Thus, the diet of a Tibetan contains little vegetables. There is a lack of seafood here too, because marine animals are not able to survive in the cold de-oxygenised water. Despite having limited ingredients, the Tibetans are able to fully utilise whatever ingredients they have to cook their daily meals. Due to their daily mostly-meat-no-vegetables meals, which is deemed as unhealthy in our modern society, Tibetans have adopted a habit of drinking tea in order to get rid of the oil in the body.
A table full of Tibetan dishes.
Performing dances and songs is a way for Tibetans to show hospitality to the guests, and of course, these two talents are their specialties.
The Tibetan ladies performed their traditional dance while we happily tasted the Tibetan cuisines. One difference which I noticed between Singaporeans and Tibetans is that, Tibetans are really courageous and sporting, they are most willing to showcase their own talents, while Singaporeans are normally really shy.
This gentleman's vocals is really good. Tibetans are well-known for their broad and strong vocals.
Traditions
This Tibetan lady here is standing beside the prayer wheels, explaining to us what we should do before we step into a Tibetan's house. Firstly, we should use our right hand to turn the prayer wheels. Doing this will allow us to have good fortune. One should not use the left hand to turn the wheels because it is considered a taboo, as left hand is used for the killing of animals.
Then, each of us was presented a hada from the Tibetan lady. She hung it around our neck. Presenting a hada to a guest is a common courtesy. hada given is normally white in colour because Tibetan people believes that white signifies purity and luck. However, as seen in picture, the hada given to us is yellow in colour. This is considered as a valued gift because not every Tibetan families can give out coloured hadas. Coloured hadas can only be given out to buddha statues or the intimate relatives. In this case, the Tibetan lady explained to us that she presented us a yellow hada because her father was a live Buddha.
Finally, before entering the door, one also need to turn the crystal ball which is placed outside the house, this is to signify good fortune. So, as we can see, the traditions of Tibetans mostly surround the objectives of receiving blessings or good fortune.
Celebrating the Spring Festivals is also an important tradition of the Tibetans in Jiuzhaigou County. Few days before the Spring Festivals, women begin to prepare food and clothes. Every family starts to clean their house. On the first and second day of the festival, the main activity in the household is reunion dinner. On the third day, activities like dragon and lion dance are being held in public. These practices are similar to the practices held in Singapore during the Chinese New Year.
At the eve of the Spring Festival, Tibetan families will gather at the lakeside to fetch water at the time when village cock gives off its first crow. Upon hearing the first crow, villagers will rush to the water source, burn joss sticks, and then carry the first pail of sacred water back to their house, which is then used for the reunion dinner.
On the 15th of the Chinese Lunar Calendar, the Tibetan villagers will organize an activity to invite the Mountain God. It can take place at anytime of the day. After they have successfully invited the Mountain God, the villagers will ask him questions related to their health and fortune. While some villagers believe in this tradition, others just treat it as an entertainment activity.
Languages
The villagers inside Jiuzhaigou National Park are mainly Tibetans, and thus Tibetan language is commonly spoken. However, the local Jiuzhaigou Tibetan language is very different from the Lhasa Tibetan language. They are different to the extent that the locals in Jiuzhaigou who speak their own Tibetan language would not be able to communicate with the Tibetans in Lhasa (Tibet). With Jiuzhaigou County being exposed to the outside world, middle-aged and younger generatiions living in Jiuzhaigou County have began to speak Mandarin. English is not commonly spoken in Jiuzhaigou County.
Mode of education
Due to the fact that there are no schools in Jiuzhaigou County, children have to go to the nearest city which is Chengdu to study in the schools there.
Types of leisure programmes
Festivals
During the winter season, Ice Waterfall Tourist Festival is being held. Some activities one can find during this festival includes photography competition, sports, concerts and Tibetan celebrations for the Spring Festivals. The most important celebration is called Mazi Fair, which is is held in Zharusi Temple in Shuzheng Valley. Held annually on May 15th of the Chinese lunar calendar, it is an important religious event for Tibetans living in Jiuzhaigou County.
Local Tibetans putting up traditional performances.
A concert being put up during the festival.
Some leisure activities that can be found there also includes riding horse, riding yaks, hiking, going for Tibetan home-visit, and taking up of cooking classes in the Tibetan house.
Ride on the yak for just 5RMB
Tourists riding horses on the mountains of Jiuzhaigou National Park
Zhuo Ma’s Jiuzhaigou Experience ; A Tibetan family using social utility to promote their homestay to tourists, though one cannot be sure of the authenticity of the homestay.
Disneyfication
Control and surveillance
Firstly, one of the dimension of disneyfication is control and surveillance. Control and surveillance binds people together. In the scenario of Jiuzhaigou, the control is not only imposed on Jiuzhaigou National Park, but also on the visitors who visit this site. or instance, Jiuzhaigou National Park filters the type of visitors who visit the park by setting a high admission fees of 220 RMB per entry. Inside the park, visitor are also specifically channelled into a particular direction, so as to not let them venture into prohibited areas of the park.
Theming
With the growing influence of hotels and restaurants being themed, Jiuzhaigou County is no exception. For instance, the hotel I stayed in has a tinge of Tibetan architectural element.
Hybrid consumption
There is also signs of hybrid consumption. Life in Jiuzhaigou County has become really vibrant after the development of mass tourism in this town.
The many clubs and pubs they have in their local Bian Bian Street, reminds me of Singapore’s Clarke Quay.
One can also watch performances in their art theatre.
There are also many choices of restaurants and eateries available in Jiuzhaigou County. All these evidences have shown that there has been increasingly little differentiation among the leisure, recreation and tourism experiences in our lives. Everywhere in the world we go, we are bound to experience the same form of activities.
Performative labour
Throughout my stay, I have heard a phrase too many times, and that is "Zha si De le" (Tashi Delek). It is a phrase used by Tibetans as greetings and blessings. Whenever I get into contact with an employee in the hotel in or in the restaurant, they would greet me by saying this phrase. Even the eco-bus driver inside Jiuzhaigou National Park greets us using that phrase. These people are often not Tibetans, but they have been trained to do that, in order to let tourists immerse in Tibetan culture. Performative labour, which is one of the dimension in disneyfication, is evident in this scenario.
Changes that has been brought by tourism
In this section, I will be touching on the changes that has been brought by tourism.
Increased awareness for conservation
Since 1992, Jiuzhaigou National Park has been declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, under category V (Protected landscape). This attraction has become vulnerable after its official opening to tourists in 1984. In 2007, about 2.5million tourists visited Jiuzhaigou County. From 2004 onwards, the site averages about 7000 visitors a day, with report showing the highest number of 12,000 visitors during the peak season. Without proper conservation of the scenic areas inside, the natural beauty of this place could be easily destroyed. Thus, we can say that, mass tourism has lead to desirable efforts to conserve the environment there.
Inside the park, due to environmental protection reasons, no personal transport, including bicycles is allowed. There is an eco-bus which will bring the tourists around the park.
The poster I saw upon arriving the entrance of Jiuzhaigou National Park. It says "Humans only have 1 Earth, the Earth only have 1 Jiuzhaigou". This is a powerful message which encourages everyone to protect the environment in Jiuzhaigou.
This recycle bin was found in the hotel I stayed in; Holiday Inn Jiuzhai Jarpo. I was quite surprised to see this in a hotel, it warms my heart to know that conservation is big in Jiuzhaigou County.
To add on the conservation efforts of the authorities, lodging inside the park is illegal. One can only find accommodations outside the park. These measures shows that tourism has lead to more awareness for the conservation of the environment.
Inflation of goods and higher cost of living
Pertaining to mass tourism in Jiuzhaigou County, prices of the goods have taken a hike. Inflation is currently a huge problem for the villagers residing there. For instance, when I was there, I witnessed that a bottle of beverage could easily cost up to 10RMB, which is really ridiculous as compared to Chengdu, where a bottle of drink would at most cost 6RMB.
Global brands operating their properties in Jiuzhaigou
Since the official opening of Jiuzhaigou National Park, many international hotel and resort chains like Starwoods Hotel Group and InterContinental Hotels Groups have witnessed the revenue brought in by tourism, and they have already set their foot in Jiuzhaigou County. From a tourist's point of view, it is good that one gets to have more choices of accommodation when he or she goes to Jiuzhaigou County.
Land alienation
However, in the opinions of the residents there, it is not desirable, because the building of these huge hotels and resorts often signify that more land have to be cleared. It may lead to land alienation.
This is the picture of InterContinental Resort Jiuzhai Paradise; the most prestigious resort in Jiuzhaigou County. One can easily imagine the amount of land that has been cleared for this project.
Increased employment opportunities
Of course, we should not overlook the fact that more employment opportunities have been brought about by tourism. The amount of employment opportunities that hotels and resorts industry in Jiuzhaigou County can offer are not to be looked down upon, although the locals are normally the ones holding lower positions. More and more residents are also venturing into the trade of souvenirs-selling and food and beverage industry.
Increased building of infrastructures
Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport
In order to serve more tourists, Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport has officially started operating in September 2003. It makes Jiuzhaigou County more accessible as now visitors have the choice of either taking the domestic flight or going there by a coach (which is about 8 hours ride from Chengdu). In addition to the airport, Jiuzhaigou Folk Art Center has also been built, it is a theatre whereby tourists can view Tibetan or Qiang culture-inspired performances. So in essence, many infrastructure have been built due to the booming of mass tourism.
Tourism has indeed brought a lot of changes to Jiuzhaigou County, whether good or bad.
Commodifying cultures and traditions
Prior to 1980, the residents of Jiuzhaigou County maintain their living by farming, raising livestocks. However, since the official opening of Jiuzhaigou National Park in 1984, tourism has become the official revenue-generating industry for the residents. Since 2002, these residents in the scenic area have completely stopped the farming activities and livestock-raising, most of them are now engaged in tour operating work and the selling of traditional handicrafts as souvenirs to tourists. Tourism has eroded their orginal culture - way of living. However disheartening is that, the traditional Tibetan handicrafts are not made by local craftmen, because there is a widespread of mass production of the handicrafts, due to the high demands by the tourists.
Not only this, I feel that the cultures and traditions of the aboriginals residing there are being treated as commodities. Like for example, prior to visiting the Tibetan household I mentioned above earlier on, the tour guide told us that we were required to pay 150RMB each for the visit. I feel that the whole Tibetan visit was being treated like a commodity because we pay the Tibetans to see how they "live and behave". It's as though everything was staged up just for us tourists.
For instance, take a look at this picture.
I was posing with one of the Tibetan of the family. Looking at the picture, I noticed that he was actually wearing a commoner's t-shirt along with a pair of canvas shoes, his traditional Tibetan costume was at his waist. This posed a question to me : Do they still wear Tibetan costume in today's context, or was it just something staged up for tourists? Previously, using traditional musical instruments is the only method for Tibetans to make music. However, in this visit, I observed that the background music which was used to complement the Tibetan dances and songs was being played by a record player. All these actions could mean that the Tibetans have gradually adopted the tourists' norms and culture as more and more tourists arrives at their houses. These Tibetans have faced the penetration of tourism into their daily life and it has reshaped their way of life. Demonstration effect in the context of travel industry has been observed.
Traditional dances are also being performed regularly in the auditorium of Sheraton Jiuzhaigou Resort or their Folk Art Center. These dances are originally for the religious ceremonies, but now they are being turned into commodities, for the entertainment of tourists. Sooner or later, the performers will feel that their their ceremonies are now devoid of meaning.
These evidences showed that tourism has played a big part in commodifying cultures and traditions.
References
http://www.tibettravel.info/tibet-people/locals/custom.html
http://www.china.org.cn/english/travel/238927.htm
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/life/citm/2009-11/18/content_8995085.htm
http://www.cnngo.com/shanghai/none/tibetan-home-stay-jiuzhaigou-167132
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/sichuan/jiuzhaigou/shopping.htm
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/life/citm/2009-11/18/content_8995085.htm
http://www.intowestchina.com/NewsRead.asp?ArticleID=280
http://english.dreams-travel.com/guide/jzg/ethnic.htm
http://pul.se/Chengdu-to-build-worlds-biggest-standalone-complex_China-90HWxJCcBTq,lw94TJCFoWcE
http://www.pbase.com/jeremy101/image/66064189
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