Tourism enterprises, the state, and the construction of multiple Dai cultures in contemporary Xishuang Banna, China

Abstract

The impacts of tourism on the ethno-cultural integrity of indigenous hosts, who often possess the feature of being marginalized and vulnerable to the development of tourism, have attracted much attention recently. In contemporary P.R. China, this topic is complicated, but intriguing, due to the political nature of the tourism industry in the face of China's pursuit of modernity. This article focuses on the specific operation and management of a state-supported tourism enterprise in five Dai minority villages on the borderland of southwest China. The article examines how governmental tourism bureaus macro control the market and shape the management of tourism enterprises and their construction of tourist sites. The article also seeks to present how the possible collaboration between the state and tourism enterprises exerts influence on the representations of ethnic cultures and the local cultural reality of ethnic groups.

Keywords:

• tourism enterprise
• the state
• ethnic culture
• Dai
• Banna
• China

Acknowledgements

This article is based on fieldwork research conducted between September 2001 and April 2002 in Xishuang Banna, Yunnan, P.R. China. The Dai Yuan grants me permission to use the real name of the corporation. I would like to express my greatest thanks to the villagers, the Dai Yuan, and BPTB for their generous support, warm help, and provoking insights on Banna's tourism development in my fieldwork research. I am indebted to the Penfield Fellowship of the University of Pennsylvania that makes my fieldwork possible and to Dr. Maggie Kruesi, Dr. Jay Dautcher, and the reviewers of this article for their comments and support during my writing and revising of this article. Part of this article was first presented at the International Conference on Tourism Development and Management in Developing Countries, Guilin, P.R. China, November 2001.