Rural Tourism in Guizhou Province

I. Identification

1. The Issue

In developing countries like China, poverty is more prevalent in the rural areas than in the big cities. More than ninety percent of Guizhou is dominated by mountains, which has resulted in a weak economy with GDP per capita of only 3088 RMB in 2002 (a little more than US$300) and make it one of the poorest provinces in the country. However, the slow process of industrialization has kept the cultural diversity and natural environment in pristine condition. The magnificent scenery, colorful ethnic customs and rich history are the pride of the Guizhou people and a unique asset for China. To promote their unusual mountain formations, beautiful rivers, karst caves, and fascinating ethnic culture, the provincial government is now putting great efforts on rural tourism development, and it is becoming one of the primary sources to generate economic returns and poverty alleviation. Currently Guizhou government is actively cooperating with other countries and international organizations such as World Tourism Organization to find a sustainable way to develop its rural tourism. The rural tourism policy that is being pursued by the Guizhou provincial government is to preserve the natural beauty of its main attractions while respecting the socio-cultural authenticity of the host communities, especially those of the 17 minority groups.

2. Description

- History of Guizhou

Guizhou has two autonomous districts: one in the southeast, peopled by Miao (known for their embroideries) and Dong; and the other in the south, inhabited by Puyi and Miao. Chinese settlement of the region began around 2,000 years ago, but it was only in the 10th century that it passed under the suzerainty of China. Guizhou became a province in the 17th century under the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), but the native Miaos were not completely subdued until about 1870. Guizhou was formerly one of the most poorly developed and sparsely populated provinces of China. In 1935 Mao Zedong became the leader of the Chinese Communist Party at a conference in Zunyi, a county in the north of the province. The Japanese invasion (1937–1945) forced the nationalist Guomindang government to retreat to the southwest, bringing Guizhou into prominence and promoting its development.

- Eight national scenic spots:

Source: TravelChinaGuide.com

Huangguoshu Waterfalls in Zhenning county, 150km from Guiyang; Huangguoshu Waterfall is the largest waterfall in Asia. It is seventy four meters (243 feet) high and eighty one meters (266 feet) wide. There are three main scenic spots in the Huangguoshu Scenic Area: Waterfalls Cluster, Water-Curtain Cave and Rhinoceros Pool (Xi Niu Tan).

Source: http://www.shanghaifinance.com/attractions/guizhou/longgong/longgong.htm

Longgong (Dragon’s Palace) Lake in Anshun, 127km from Guiyang; the main part of Dragon’s Palace consists magnificent karst river caves with a waterfall, a whirlpool and a Leech Pass inside the caves. Being 15 kilometers (9 miles) in length, the Dragon’s Palace is the longest karst river cave in China.

Source: TravelChinaGuide.com

Source: http://www.chinaguizhou.gov.cn/scenes04/0412.htm

Hongfeng (Red Maple) Lake in Qingzhen, 33km from Guiyang; Hongfeng Lake is the largest artificial lake on the Guizhou Plateau. The scenic area contains interesting examples of ethnic village architectures, such as a Miao traditional house (DiaoJiaolou), a Buyi flagstone house and a Dong drum tower with a roofed bridge.

Source: http://www.chinaetravel.com/attraction/att09b.html

Zhijin Cave in Zhijin county, 157km from Guiyang;Zhijin Cave is also known as Daji Cave (Hit Rooster Cave). In the past, youngsters of the local Miao ethnic group played games with shuttlecocks made by the feather of a rooster. That is how the name came from. Zhijin cave is famous for its grand scale, marvelous spectacle and complete varieties of stalactite. There are over forty kinds of precipitated karst forms in the cave, embracing the main kinds found in Karst caves all over the world. It is known as "the Museum of Karst Formation"


Source: TravelChinaGuide.com

Zhangjiang (Xiaoqikong) in Libo, south Guizhou, 357km from Guiyang
Xiaoqikong (Seven Small Arches) lies in Libo county in southern Guizhou Province, covering an area of 10 square kilometers. The scenic area has peculiar landforms, magnificent peaks, and crystal-clear springs and streams. The primeval scenery is formed by virgin forests, limestone caves, twin lakes, etc. The scenic area is named after a well-known seven-arched bridge.

Source: http://www.shanghaifinance.com/attractions/guizhou/chishui/chishui.htm

Chishui National Scenic Zone; Chishui is another large waterfall scenic spot in Guizhou Province. There are lots of waterfalls as well as bamboos. A huge evergreen broadleaf forest belt and various rare animals are well-preserved in this region. The Cyathea spinulosa, a rare plant known as the “living fossil”, can be found everywhere in the forest. Because of the fossils found in the area and the large amount of waterfalls, it is called “Jurassic Park with hundreds of waterfalls”

Source: http://www.chinaguizhou.gov.cn/scenes01/page02.htm

Malinghe Valley, 6km from Xingyi city and 366km from Guiyang
In this scenic area, turbulent water falls down from the northwest plateau and cuts its way through the limestone, giving birth to a deep valley. The whole valley presents a magnificent view with cliffs on both sides of the valley, blue water gushing on and a swathe of sky overhead. The valley is famed for its bizarre-shaped rocks and beautiful cascades along the river. There are subtropical plants on both sides of the valley and waterfalls pouring down here and there.

Source: http://chinatravelz.com/china/Guizhou/Kaili/wuyanghe/index.asp

Wuyanghe River, between Shibing and Zhenyuan, 348km from Guiyang; the Wuyang River scenic spot includes the Wuyang Three Gorges, Mount Yuntai, the Tiexi Stream, Zhenyuan, a well-known ancient cultural town and others. The Wuyang Three Gorges are characterized by grotesque cliffs and green waters spanning as long as 35 kilometers. The ancient town-Zhenyuan, located in the lower reaches of the Wuyanghe River, has a history of over 2,000 years. It is one of the major historical cultural sites of the state.

- Five national nature reserves:

Mt.Fanjing in Tongren prefecture, 570km from Guiyang
Maolan Karst Virgin Forest in Libo
Chishui Primeval Forest Reserve in Zunyi prefecture
Caohai Nature Bird Reserve in Bijie prefecture, 423km from Guiyang
Xishui Broad-Leafed Forest Reserve in Zunyi
(Source: The website of Guizhou Tourism Bureau)

- Resources

Guizhou is almost entirely a high plateau, and its sheer limestone hills form some of the most spectacular karsts scenery in the world. Guizhou has many deep river valleys, notably those of the Wu (the major river), the He, and the Yuan. It has unique natural scenery, rich ethnic traditions, splendid culture and history as well as a pleasant climate. Now over 120 tourist sites have been opened including national relic sites of the Golden Brocade Cave, the Shizhang Cave on the Chishui River, and many villages with distinctive ethnic minority customs and ways of life.

Over 3,800 species of wild animals inhabit in Guizhou. Out of this figure, over 1,000 kinds are listed as rare species under state protection. More than 3,700 kinds of medicinal herbs, or 80 percent of the total number of medicinal herbs, are found in Guizhou.

- The Nature of Rural Tourism in Guizhou

There are two tourism circuits in Guizhou which extend into the western and eastern parts of the province. The western part is rich in waterfalls, caves, lakes and underground rivers. So the main attraction offered in this circuit is scenic beauty. The eastern circuit, however, focuses on cultural attractions: this is where the largest Miao territory is found. Due to this difference between the two circuits, their visitors type differs as well. In general, the dominant visitors in the western circuit are domestic tourists. Their primary interest is scenery, although ethnic culture and costumes also add to the attraction. In contrast, the majority of the tourists on the eastern circuit are international arrivals, attracted by exotic ethnic culture and customs. The Japanese and members from the western Hmong diaspora make up the largest part of such groups, because both groups believe that the Miao represent their origins (Oakes, 1998, page 169).

Although there are differences in emphasis between the two lines, generally speaking, the tourism promoted in Guizhou is closely ethnic and culture related. In the various brochures and guide books provided by tourism agencies, Guizhou province is described as “the last virgin land”, “mysterious land” with “diversity and color”. Tourists visit “exotic” tribal peoples; their festivals and costumes are “fascinating and vibrantly unique”, traditional and authentic. Exoticism is a main theme in all the marketing materials. Although nature scenery is also enthusiastically promoted in Guizhou, the presentation of the beautiful landscape is closely associated with local minority culture, since almost all the scenic sites exist in the minority territory. The most common feature of ethnic tourism in the province is the performance of minority songs and dances, the presentation of the minority rituals, as well as festivals (Wu, 2000)

3. Related Cases

Other rural tourism models in China:
- Minority tourism in Yunan: Activities include visiting minority people’s homes, watching their traditional performances and festivals, and learning how their clothes and household tools are made.
(More information please check the website of Yunnan Provincial Tourism Information Center at http://www.yunnantourism.net)
- Farmhouse tourism in Sichuan: It is also called Nongjiale, meaning have fun in farmer’s house. Activities include playing mahjong and cards, drinking tea, fishing and picking fruit.
(More information please check the government websites of two Sichuan counties: http://www.pzh.gov.cn/_EN/_Html/_Travel_entertainment.asp
http://www.pixian.gov.cn/eng/h8.htm)
- Ancient town tour in Jiangnan: Cities in Jiangnan have many ancient towns which maintained their traditional style. People can walk through the town, enjoy local snacks and handicrafts made by the town residents and watch street shows.
(For relevant information, please check http://www.8264.com/english/html/2005-01/58.htm
or http://www.han-yuan.com/shudian/jiangnan-e.htm)

4. Author and Date

Yuan Fang
Master of Tourism and Hospitality Management Candidate
Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management
School of Business
The George Washington University
600 21st Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20052
yuanfang@gwu.edu
April 28, 2005

II. Policy Impacts

5. Social

The purpose of the policy to promote rural tourism in Guizhou is to protect the cultural heritage and value of the local population. To improve the local populations living conditions as well as reduce poverty are some of the major goals of the provincial government

6. Environmental

The natural sights and cultural heritages in Guizhou are fragile. Once destroyed, it would be impossible to restore them into its original state. This is particularly clear for those non-reproducible natural and historical culture heritages. In the mean time, overdevelopment of tourism will degrade the natural environment, disturb the wild life and residents, and cause pollution and congestion. Therefore, tourism policy is used to preserve and protect the environment and habitat and keep a balance between the nature and human development.

7. Economic

The tourism policy provides guidelines and regulations for a sustainable trend of tourism development in Guizhou. The six approaches for poverty alleviation through tourism include: 1) employ the poor in tourism enterprises; 2) the supply of goods and services are from the local residents; 3) support the establishment of tourism enterprises by the poor; 4) implement favorable tourism related income tax policies; 5) organize local development funds from the tourists’ donation; 6) work on the improvement of the local infrastructure. The goal these approaches is to provide more income and jobs, generate foreign currency, diversify the local economy, and improve local people’s lives.

8. Others

It is hoped that through developing rural tourism, the local people will recognize the value of their heritage and tradition. For so many centuries, the minority people, especially Miao, were regarded as “uncivilized” and “barbarians”. Tourism has generated a sense of ethnic pride and led the minority group as a whole to a stronger sense of identity. The government also helps in teaching and training the local youth to pass on the traditional skills and culture. For example, the local schools have set up courses to teach students the traditional skills of handicraft and embroidery.

9. Suggested Interventions

With the guide and specialists’ help from WTO and other foreign countries, as well as financial support from the World Bank and foreign institutions, the Guizhou government needs to take full advantage of those resources, effectively implement the tourism policies, and timely evaluate their process.

III. Legal Clusters

10. Discourse and Status/Policy Issue

The ethnic villages are an obstacle in the process of poverty alleviation in Guizhou. However, they are also the potential and precious resources for tourism development. There are over 30,000 ethnic villages in Guizhou, spread on the border and in the remote areas. These villages are not appropriate for industrial and agricultural development because of the poor natural conditions; however, they boast great potential for developing folk customs tourism and ecological tourism. In the process of poverty alleviation in Guizhou, the provincial government attaches great efforts on the development of rural tourism to serve that purpose.

Being a new growth point, rural tourism bears a number of striking features in reducing poverty if folk culture and ecological sustainability can be organically combined: (i) The economic benefits are substantial while the investment is low; (ii) Most farmers can participate in its development; therefore a large number of them can be benefited from it; (iii) The rural tourism can stimulate lots of villagers for participation and can bring out high comprehensive benefits; (iv) The stable and sustained development of rural tourism can help to eliminate poverty continuously, and thus address the issue of poverty caused by geographic seclusion fundamentally.

Since 1991 Guizhou Government put forward the Guiding Policy to “Promote opening-up, shake off poverty and achieve prosperity via tourism”, it has made remarkable achievements in developing rural tourism by combining the development of tourism with the adjustment of rural economic structures, and combining poverty alleviation with ecological protection. According to incomplete statistics, by the end of 2003, there were more than 700,000 people who have gotten rid of poverty by developing rural tourism in the countryside in Guizhou. Since rural tourism was developed in Tianlong, Pingbe in September, 2001, striking effects to the local economy have been brought about by the development of tourism within the last three years. There has been a rapid increase in peasants’ income. Every year, the increase rate stands at over 50%. In the year of 2002 alone, the business income of the peasant families amounted to 11.8 million yuan (RMB). Rural tourism has also provided employment opportunities for the surplus labor forces in the countryside, as well as for the older people and women there. Before 2001, the labor force engaged in agriculture in Guizhou accounting for 80%, and the labor force in the service industry accounted for less than 20%. However, in 2002, the proportion was turned into 58% and 42% respectively. It is estimated that at present there are about more than 6 million people as surplus labor force in the countryside of Guizhou. With the development of rural tourism, the unemployment rate is expected to decrease soon.

11. Forum and Scope/Existing Policy Framwork

• International

Tourism Development Master Plan in Guizhou, supported by the World Tourism Organization, states that rural tourism should be a core aspect in the tourism development in Guizhou. That apart, the provincial government has signed an agreement with the New Zealand government for joint exploration of rural tourism in Guizhou. The New Zealand government will provide $300,000 as financial aid for the project of constructing the Bala River rural tourism area. In addition, cooperation agreements have also been signed with the national tourism departments from other countries such as France, Austria, and Ireland

• National

It is not easy for the State Government to allocate special aid to Guizhou. However, there are various other channels of funds, such as the “Fund for Aiding the Poor Regions”, the “Fund for Agriculture Development”, and the “Fund for Ecologic Construction”. Pool them together and plan properly will make a rather big sum of investment to develop rural tourism in Guizhou. Besides funding, it is important for Guizhou to generate domestic tourists, partner with other regions, NGOs and large corporations at national level.

• Regional

To develop rural tourism in this region is very important. Because now China is making great efforts on the development of Rural Western China and to improve the living conditions of people in this area, rural tourism will be regarded as a practical and meaningful method toward such end. Also, Guizhou adjoins Yunan and Guangxi, which are also famed for minority culture and heritage. Such triangle region provides a strategic advantage for their joint effort for tourism development.

• Local

In 1982, Guizhou Tourism Bureau (GTB) was established as a branch of the Foreign Affairs Office. In that same year the provincial capital, Guiyang, and Zhenning county, were opened to foreign tourists. These were crucial events. Since then more counties were opened and now over half of the province is accessible to foreign tourists. The international arrivals have increased sharply, so have the numbers of domestic tourists, in response to the rapid economic growth in the coastal south, and some large cities in the north.
In December last year, the first International Forum on Rural Tourism Development was held in Guizhou. The focus of the forum was on poverty alleviation and culture preservation. This helped the local government learn from other countries’ good experience, adjust to the changing situation, and improve tourism policies.
The existing policy framework of Guizhou government can be concluded in the following five aspects:
(1) The Parties Committee and the government should pay special attention to the development of rural tourism and put it into their essential work, treat it as a new way to eliminate poverty, as well as a new move of develop rural tourism development. Optimize the functions of the Guizhou Tourism Committee and GTB, establish a working group for rural tourism development, coordinate the involvement of all relevant departments and form joint forces.
(2) To coordinate the existing capital resources and ensure that the needs of rural tourism construction can be met. Guizhou Tourism Bureau should take the lead and coordinate the other departments to make a plan for rural tourism development by pooling relevant financial resources into this program.
(3) To formulate and carry out systematic training for the rural tourism employees and the community dwellers. When changing from the farm work to tourism service and reception work, the local villagers may feel it difficult to get accustomed both psychologically and practically, because it needs a removal of their improper habits and the creation of some skills needed for the new work.
(4) To introduce advanced management and carry out standardized administration. Through the examination and evaluation of the families participating in the rural tourism development, the government awards the qualified with the “Tourism Service and Reception Certificate”; carry out regular examinations, and give permission only to those qualified to work on their post. As to the villages, evaluation and grading are conducted. Emphasis is put on the completion of legal systems, including the outlines of rural tourism planning, draft of preserving rural natural and cultural heritages, regulations on the utilization of the rural tourism sites, development plan of the rural tourism, and the statutes for rural environmental protection.
(5) To make good use of the internet and to establish information platform to promote Guizhou’s rural tourism. The establishment and operation of the website can follow the pattern adopted by the companies under the government support.
Relevant links:
http://www.world-tourism.org/regional/east_asia_&_pacific/image_country/guizhou.htm
Guizhou People’s Municipal Government: http://www.gzgov.gov.cn/enggov/default.htm
Guizhou Tourism Bureau: http://www.gzgov.gov.cn/enggov/pages/government-16.htm
http://www.cctv.com/program/RediscoveringChina/20030325/100724.shtml

12. Decision Breadth/Stakeholders

The involved parties include government, the enterprise, the farmer’s tourism association, the travel agency. They should not act in isolation, joint action is needed. One suggestion is the establishment of joint committees for tourism and poverty at a destination level, which seek to engage all stakeholders.
- International Development Agencies
- National governments
- Intra-regional bodies, NGOs
- Destination management organizations
- Tourism enterprises, including international tour operators, incoming operators and tourism service providers
- The rural communities and their local organizations
- Tourists

13. Legal Standing/Legal Regulatory Framework

• Legal Liability and Risk Management

Legislation enforcement is the most important insurance for achieving sustainable development in China. In the past ten years, China has drawn up and revised many laws and regulations for sustainable development, including the following:
Regulations for the protection of wild animals and wild aquatic animals, water and soil conservation, fire relief in grassland, natural reserves, water protection in the Huaihe River, measures for the enforcement of water licenses; a decision of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee on the revision of atmospheric pollution control, and laws on energy-saving and solid waste control and disposal.

In 1992 and 1993, China developed a National Agenda 21 - White Paper on China’s Population, Environment and Development in the 21st Century. On March 20, 1996, China Agenda 21 Update No. 5 released China’s legislation for sustainable development. It indicates that China Legal Bureau of State Council will enact and revise laws and regulations on issues such as mineral resource (revision), noise control, natural resource conservation, prevention and control of desertification, comprehensive resource use, environmental protection (revision), water pollution prevention (revision), grassland (revision), and forestry (revision).

Concurrently, government authorities under the State Council begun to engage in formulation of various sectoral Agenda 21s and plans of action, which were suited to their own area of specific requirement. For example, the Ministry of Forestry formulated the Forestry Action Plan for China’s Agenda 21 which deals with sustainable development in forestry. China’s National Environment Protection Agency formulated China’s Agenda 21 for Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Water Resources drafted China’s Agenda 21 on Water Resources, etc. Other government authorities have also formulated programs of action according to their specific conditions and in line with the country’s Ninth Five -Year Plan.

Guizhou Province, together with Beijing and Hubei were selected at local levels to integrate, on an experimental basis, China’s Agenda 21 into their economic and social development planning. As a result, specific suggestions were made from the perspective of laws, policies, arrangements, finance and operation mechanisms, etc., so that a sustainable development strategy which can be implemented at local levels can be developed.

In 1994, ten cities and one district in Guizhou province recognized the mayor as being responsible for environmental protection goals, and the mayor signed a responsibility contract to fulfill these goals.

IV. Geographic Clusters

- Geographic locations

Source: http://www.chinahighlights.com/guizhou/map.htm

a. Geographic Domain:
Guizhou covers an area of about 176,100 square kilometers (about 67,958 square miles).
The Provincial capital is Guiyang.
The population of Guizhou is 38.7 million, and there are more than 17 minority ethnic groups. Next to Han, the Miao nationality is the second largest in the province.

b. Geographic Site:
Guizhou is located in the southwest corner of China. It adjoins Sichuan Province to the north, Yunnan Province to the west, Guangxi Province to the south and Hunan Province to the east.
In China there are mountains in many provinces, but Guizhou is known as “The mountain state”. In ancient times there was a saying that: “Guizhou has no flat area that extends for more than 1,500 meters.”
c. Geographic Impact
Guizhou has a subtropical humid climate. There are few seasonal changes. The annual temperature of Guizhou Province averages 15°C, with a frost-free period of about 270 days a year. The climate of Guizhou is temperate, without severe winters or hot summers.

Source: TravelChinaGuide.com

Of the total land area of Guizhou, the mountainous and hilly regions account for 92.5%. The special geological formation, together with the specific elevation, latitude, and climate, makes Guizhou a “Green Karst Kingdom” with diversified biological resources, and a large number of mountains, rivers, waterfalls, caves, and lakes.

- Sub-National Factors

- Agriculture:

As the conditions for agricultural production has been improved gradually, the output of the staple crops shows a considerable increase. The production bases have been laid step by step for marketable crops, such as cured tobacco, rape seed, vegetables, etc.

- Industry:

Owing to the advanced equipment and technology and a complete category of products, many of the products take the first place in this country in their quality, quantity and technical standard. The light and textile industry includes food industry, which takes name-brand liquors and cigarettes and mineral water production as its key component; textile industry, which is characterized by cotton, linen, wool, silk, synthetic fiber and leather processing, and other industry such as paper-making. Among them, cigarette-making and brewery take a national importance. The mineral water is good in quality, large in quantity, and have a considerably good prospect of development.

Source: TravelChinaGuide.com

- Economy:

The GDP in 2000 totaled 99.353 billion Yuan with per capita GDP being 2,662 Yuan. The total industrial output was 85.551 billion Yuan and the total agriculture, forestry and fishery output was 41.297 billion Yuan. The total revenue amounted to 15.304 billion Yuan. The total output of grain amounted to 11.613 million tons. Apart from its uneven topography, landlocked situation, difficult traffic access, late development of its economy and weak agricultural base, its big population, especially the large proportion of the poor, becomes another constraining factor to the social and economic development of Guizhou Province.
- Education: By 2000, there were 24 higher education institutions with 75,493 students and 7,240 teachers; 2,315 medium education institutions with 1,771,953 students and 93,152 teachers, and 17.985 primary schools with 5,002,082 pupils and 174,822 teachers. The general feature of change in terms of the education for the Guizhou population is that the percentage of the educated population at different levels was increasing year by year while that of the illiterate and semi-literate population was declining. The enrollment rate of school-age children was 98.5%. There has been some development in adult education.

- Type of Habitat

 

Source: TravelChinaGuide.com

Guizhou is one of the multiethnic provinces in China. After tens and thousands of years’ migration and evolution, there are now about 17 ethnic minorities, with a population of over 14 million living and multiplying amid the beautiful landscape from generation to generation. Furthermore, each minority group has its own branches of around ten to one hundred respectively. Living in the remote areas and being separated by mountains and rivers, these minorities seldom have communication with the outside world or among themselves. As a result, they and their branches have formed their own productive and life patterns based on the natural environment they are in, continued and developed their own history, and created the unique situation in anthropology in which “various kinds of cultures” coexist. These brilliant, colorful and unique primitive and authentic multiethnic cultures enrich the diversity of the world culture, and can be counted as the precious heritage in the cultural treasure of the Chinese nation or even of the whole world.

V. Trade/Travel and Tourism Clusters

14. Type of Measure

The development of rural tourism in Guizhou should ensure community participation in the planning and development of the product which is to be sold to the tourists. An essential ingredient is teaching the rural communities about the impacts of tourism and the approaches to manage them. Awareness is of the essence in order to build capacity and thus make the local communities true stakeholders.

15. Relation of Trade Measure to Environmental/Tourism Impact

a. Directly Related to Product: All revenues generated by rural tourism, such as selling of souvenirs, food, and clothing, should go directly back to the product, which is the local community and the natural resource.
b. Indirectly Related to Product: The second tier of tourism revenue, such as farm products, service sectors and local police and civil workers are all contributing and supporting the tourism product.
c. Not Related to Product: Schools, factories, hospitals, etc.
d. Related to Process:
Brand building for sites in Guizhou is crucial for its success in tourism development and attracting visitors both from home and abroad. Nanhua Village is a “demonstration spot for getting rich by building an eco-friendly village” conferred upon by the State Agricultural Ministry. And the Upper Village of Langde is defined as “a home to folk arts in China” by the State Cultural Ministry, a “key national protected relic” by the State Council, and one of “the hundred unique open museums in China”.
Revenue and profits should be invested back to service sectors and tourism infrastructure. This will ensure the high standard of the product, maintain its good quality, thus continuously attract visitors and at the same time, preserve the nature resource.

16. Trade Product Identification/Trade and Services

Guizhou is the first province on the mainland to develop rural tourism. It now has more than 130 tourism programs in minority areas. The main product is rural tourism packages and travel routes that can be sold to tourists. They include transportation, lodging, food service, tour guide, folk performance, etc. Souvenirs, gifts, traditional crafts and other services are important byproducts of rural tourism.
In the past few years, with the swift development of tourism in Guizhon, four new major tourist routes have been formed stretching towards east, west, south and north with Guiyang as the center. The eastern route comprises of 10 sites featuring ethnic tastes, the western route features natural landscape such as karst caves. The northern route is praised for its renowned cities and wines. It is dotted with buildings and museums in memory of the Long March conducted by the Red Army led by the Chinese Communist Party from 1934 to 1936. And the southern route covers virgin forest and villages inhabited by Puyi, Yao and Shui nationalities.

17. Economic Data

As Guizhou is geographically located in the remote mountainous areas and the communication conditions here are rather poor in the past years. It is difficult for modern civilization and commodity economy to take roots in this mysterious land. Objectively speaking, although Guizhou has retained a valuable authentic and primitive environment and a lot of well-preserved multiethnic cultural heritage for China and the world, the contradiction between a large population and little land, and the backwardness of economic development have caused this region to produce the largest poor population, highest proportion of impoverished people, and most deep-seated poverty. At present, of the 30 million rural people in Guizhou, the annual net income per capita is less than $200; of them, about 8 million rural people earn less than $100 per capita each year.

However, tourism development in Guizhou has made great difference to this province. In 2002, about 228,100 foreign tourists visited the province and generated a total revenue of US$80 million.

In 2003, the Demonstration Project Area received 360,000 tourists person-times; the direct income from tourism reached 8.60 million RMB, paying a tax of over 350,000 RMB.

According to WTO, every job in the tourism sector can generate another 3-5 jobs in the economy. In Longquanyi County, over 5,000 people were engaged in tourism in 2002, and at least 15,000 jobs were linked to tourism. Hence tourism sector can obviously digest part of the surplus labor force, bring practical benefits to farmers and improve their living conditions.

18. Impact of Trade Restriction

The trade restrictions that would impact local people’s income is the government ban on street trading. In order to collect tax and better track down the tourism revenues, street vendors are prohibited by the local government. So locals are forced to find ways to sell their goods to interested visitors and dealers to earn money. However, the positive side of such policy is that it assures a clean and pleasant view of the nature scenery, reduces litter and conflicts among different sellers.
The regulations to preserve the minority culture by the Bureau of Culture and Education, the laws regarding land use and environmental protection enacted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Provincial Bureau of Environmental Protection, as well as GTB’s supervision on tour operators will ensure a healthy and sustainable future for Guizhou’s tourism development.

19. Industry Sector

Primary: Both international and domestic travel and tourism
Secondary: Service sector, information and communication technology, transportation industry, conservation and preservation

20. Exporters and Importers

The tour packages and routes are exports. By selling the travel products and providing necessary service, Guizhou can get income from the consumers. The local goods such as manufactures and handicrafts are also export because they are sold to tourists.

V. Macro/Environment Clusters/Tourism Policy Clusters

In the recent five years, with the implementation of the Western China Development Strategy, Guizhou has received a lot financial and administrative assistance from the central government. The overall environment conditions of Guizhou have been tremendously improved.
In 2001, Guizhou Provincial Tourism Master Plan was passed. The project aimed to provide the People’s Government of Guizhou Province with a long-term (twenty years) Tourism Development Master Plan which would be the basis for the next 50 years. The strategies are aimed to obtain direct and immediate socio-economic benefits from tourism particularly in poverty alleviation and job creation. Development of eco-tourism was a fundamental element of the Master Plan with focus on the protection and preservation of the cultural heritage and the environmental fragility of the Province.
Relevant links:
http://www.world-tourism.org/regional/east_asia_&_pacific/image_country/guizhou.htm
http://www.world-tourism.org/regional/east_asia_&_pacific/PDF/china.htm

21. Environmental Problem Type/Environmental Aspects

In 1994, the Chinese Government promulgated the Agenda 21—White Paper on China’s Population, Environment and Development in the 21st Century, which for the first time put forward China’s general strategy for sustainable development, countermeasures and action programs. While developing its economy, China will handle properly the relations among the population, natural resources and the environment. In March 1996, the Fourth Session of the Eighth National People’s Committee approved the Outline of the Ninth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives to the Year 2010, which puts forward the cross-century environmental objectives as follows: By 2000, China will try to basically control environmental pollution and the worsening of the ecological environment, and the environmental quality of some cities and regions will be improved. By 2010, the worsening of the ecological environment will be basically checked, the urban environmental quality will be improved remarkably, and a number of cities and regions will feature rapid economic development, a beautiful environment and a benign ecological circle. In January 1999, the Chinese government worked out and approved the National Ecological Environmental Construction Program, which proposed a 50-year deadline for checking the worsening of the ecological environment in the short, medium and long terms.

Governments at both State and local level have established environmental-protection management organs. By the end of 1999, China had more than 2,500 environmental-protection departments at or above the county level, 2,111 environmental-monitoring stations at all levels, and 118,000 environmental-protection personnel throughout the country, including 36,000 environmental monitoring personnel.
Guizhou Provincial Environmental Protection Bureau (GEPB) is a provincial administrative department in charge of environmental protection. Its major functions are, according to laws and regulations, to implement unified supervision and management over half of provincial protection work, to prevent and control pollution and other public harms, to protect and improve living environment and ecological environment, to promote economic and social development in a continuous and coordinated way.

Besides setting standards and acting as an inspector, another main function of GEPB is to promote environment awareness, which include: (i) Develop simply written local information sheet made available in restaurants and at every tourist bedside; (ii) Educate local people to bear in mind that environmental features which they take for granted are very special to the visitor; (iii) Organize visitors to join a local group to help both lobby for and fund improvements; (iv) Assist tourism industries to support environmental awareness directly by contributing in kind or in cash

22. Resource Impact and Effect

Once more rural villages and counties open up to the outside world, thousands of domestic and foreign tourists will come to visit Guizhou every year. It will worsen the current environmental situation due to the huge consumption of natural resources

23. Urgency and Lifetime/Urgency and Policy Review

As tourists to Guizhou province increase at a daunting speed, government policies on environmental and social-culture protection should also improve and be implemented as soon as possible. Otherwise, overdevelopment and excessive efforts to modernization will put Guizhou under the risk of losing its traditional charm. The key to this goal is the direct involvement of local communities under the umbrella of supportive provincial and national policy. Policy makers, NGOs, and practitioners of rural tourism must therefore work to create opportunities for local communities that link conservation with enterprise development.


1) Making plans
The Plan for Rural Tourism Development in Guizhou has been made on the basis of Tourism Development Master Plan for Guiz Brief Summary of tourism Policy by GTB:hou.
2) Making standards
Standards for Rating Tourism Villages in Guizhou and Standards for Rating Family Hotels and Rural Hotels in Guizhou have been made and implemented based on the concrete situations in Gzuihou and the successful experiences from other provinces and other countries.
3) Education and training
In addition to the provincial-wide, large-scaled training programs for the employees and managers engaged in rural tourism, much attention has been paid to the education and training for young people in the ethnic regions. The transmission of ethnic cultures has been legalized, standardized and normalized by means of drafting local laws, setting standards and making regulations for the villagers.
4) International cooperation
The Chinese and the Norwegian Governments have established a joint effort to create four ecological village museums in Guizhou. The cooperation between Guizhou and New Zealand, France, Ireland and Austria has been started in the model projects for rural tourism and in the training of personnel in the tourism industry.

Relevant links:
http://www.norway.cn/environment/minorities/ecomuseum.htm
http://environment.norad.no/projects.cfm?projectid=1082
http://english.people.com.cn/200201/22/eng20020122_89091.shtml

5) Establishing demonstration villages
Investigations have been conducted on the population, economy, environment, community set-up, traditional way of life, architectural style, infrastructure and cultural heritage in the ethnic villages in order to make the inventory of the tourism villages in Guizhou. Based on the principles of self-application and expert-evaluation, typical ethnic villages have been finally chosen as demonstration villages for rural tourism development. When certain experiences have been collected, more villages will be selected as models.
6) Supporting the key villages with great efforts
The first 20 key ethnic villages have been selected by the relevant departments of the Provincial Government for protection and construction and 44 million yuan RMB has been spent on road building, water supply, sanitation and education. By 2010, about 100 rural tourism areas will have been established. They will create a number of top products for rural tourism.
7) Encouraging innovation
Efforts have been made to popularize the management and development modes of the Old Han Military Fortification in Tianlong and the Grass Lake in Weining. The local people are encouraged to participate in the management, and the traditional force of the local communities are motivated and organized to establish the non-government association for cultural heritage protection and to participate in the management. Assistance has been offered to the villagers with their establishment of tourism enterprises in order to manage their own village. The advanced experience from home and abroad has been studied to innovate the development mode for the special cultural tourism and rural tourism in Guizhou.
8) Work on any possible efficient ways to protect the natural and the cultural heritage to the maximum degree.

24. Substitutes/Alternative Policies

To combat poverty and at the same time, provide sources for preserving environment and the local culture, tourism has been regarded the most appropriate method when weighing the pros and cons together with other alternatives. This is the current practice in most developing regions. What the government needs to do is to strengthen the regulation on environment protection, provide accurate and continuous information/data of the environment and tourism development, and offer educational programs for tourists.

There are also other alternative policies which may be in favor of tourism development, such as tax deduction, transportation management, immunization, visa issue, registration, etc.

VI. Other Factors

25. Culture

Source: TravelChinaGuide.com

As a poly-ethnic province, Guizhou has a population of more than 100,000 for each minority groups such as Miao, Buyi, Dong, Tujia, Yi, Gelao, Shui, Hui and Bai. Minorities contribute to fascinating architecture and over 100 lively festivals a year. These include bull fights, dragon boats, horse races, and Lusheng dance. The villages, perched on the hills nearby the river, are well under the cover of ancient trees. Some villages are untouched by tourists. The minorities retain most of their unique customs and are hospitable and warm. They wear brilliant and beautiful ethnic clothing and have their unique way of cooking, dancing, and manufacturing. They worship their totems, play intriguing music while dancing graceful dances. The local Miao and Buyi ethnic people are especially famed for their splendid ethnic embroidery culture.

The ethnic culture and rich folklore are passed on orally from generation to generation. Now, with the opening up of Guizhou province and tourists pouring in, one of the biggest challenges and goals is to help the locals maintain their culture. The government role is to protect the ethnic traditional treasure and at the same time, carefully use it as one of the mechanisms to attract tourists.

26. Trans-Boundary Issues

There are a number of tourist routes that cross Guizhou borders and link the neighboring Yunnan and Guangxi provinces. There are many issues that come into play when designing these routes, such as transportation, accommodation, co-operation among governments and tour operators. These issues will need to be addressed if the trans-boundary routes will be successful.

27. Rights

Authority: Taxation, supervision and regulations on issues like security, sanitary, training, health care, social stability, etc.
Locals: All villages, drum towers, and traditional houses need to stay under the ownership of the community. The local people should have access to their natural resource, like land, water, forests and so on. The building of theme parks and resorts should not block out the local residents.

28. Relevant Literature

China Population Information and Research Centre (CPIRC): www.cpirc.org.cn
http://www.unescap.org/esid/psis/population/database/chinadata/guizhou.htm
Agriculture Office of Guizhou Province: www.gzgov.gov.cn/enggov/pages/government-18.htm
People’s Daily Online-http://english.people.com.cn/data/province/guizhou.html
Western China: www.china.org.cn/e-xibu/2JI/3JI/guizhou/guizhou-ban.htm
The Municipal Government of Guizhou Province: www.gzgov.gov.cn/
Tourism Bureau of Guizhou Province: www.gzgov.gov.cn/enggov/pages/government-16.htm
Oakes, Tim. (1999). Ethnic tourism and the political economy of culture change in Southwest China
Oakes, Tim. (1998). Tourism and modernity in China. London: Routledge.
Smith, V. (1989). Relating to Wales. In T. Eagleton, (Ed.), Raymond Williams: Critical perspectives (pp. 34-53). Cambridge: Polity Press.
Wu, Xiaoping. (2000). Ethnic Tourism -- A Helicopter from "Huge Graveyard" to Paradise? Hmong Studies Journal, Volume Three, Winter 2000
Ham, Sam H. 1992. Environmental Interpretation: A Practical Guide for People with Big Ideas and Small Budgets. Golden, Colorado: North American Press.
China Brief: www.china.org.cn/e-china/environmentalprotection/introduction.htm

VII. Conclusion

29. Policy Implications

Guizhou is now using tourism as a major means of economic stimulus. Under the sustainable policy guideline of WTO and central government, the Guizhou tourism policy has accordingly shifted from encouraging high-volume, commodity production to encouraging more limited production of high-quality, high-value products. Meanwhile, in order to maximize the benefits to local people for the purpose of poverty alleviation, their policy also encourages production of typical products by requiring a minimum percentages of goods, foods, and services provided to tourists from the local community.
Points especially focused by Guizhou government while promoting its rural tourism:
• Enhancing the infrastructure construction and improving the environment for rural tourism development.
• Information supervision: Collect accurate tourism information to Provincial Tourism Administrations and Provincial Project Offices so they can be well informed of the progress of the tourism development in each village and make decisions for the next step according to that information.
• Issuing notices: The governments of both Provincial level and County level should issue the Notice on Enhancing the Management of the Rural Tourism Area and abide by it. This can play an important role in the standardization of the management of the tourism project and in the proper protection, development and exploration of the tourism resources.
• Improving the appearance of the villages: To offer the tourists a clean, comfortable, safe and healthy environment, the government needs to improve villages’ appearance.

30. Recommendations

• Carrying capacity should be the primary concern of Guizhou’s tourism policy. Advocate quality tourism which emphasizes on “high value” instead of “high volume”. Small number of visitors with high spending are encouraged for it is beneficial to the local community and at the same time, lighten the stress on the environment.
• Develop projects which provide a means for residents to express their heritage and culture, such as:
- A community photo exhibit: Encourage citizens to share photos of community events or village history. Display photos in prominent gathering places in the village/county.
- Oral history recordings: Gather oral histories from the oldest residents. A local history teacher may take this as a project for high school classes to encourage students to seek for their own identity.
- Image formation: Develop a logo and theme for each individual village. Use the theme on bumper stickers, local government stationary, public buildings and vehicles, tourist brochures, etc.
• Encourage to build or convert traditional vernacular style buildings as small hostels, that would provide lodging facilities for backpackers and foreign visitors.
• Develop key museums in large tourism centers so the locals can see their cultural items displayed and be proud of their traditions. Local people should take part in the selection, display and description of the exhibit items.
• Ensure that tourism development strategies focus on achieving a more equitable distribution of wealth and services because equal distribution is essential for Guizhou’s poverty alleviation.
• Set up policies and create favorable conditions to empower and enable all stack holders, especially the poor to have access to information and to influence and make decisions.
• Make long-tern plan in accordance with the potential and characteristics of each county or village.
• Since main attraction of Guizhou is its culture and natural scenery, and Guizhou’s climate is mild year-round, tourism should not be affected by seasonality. The government needs to develop activities in all seasons to spread the visitor volume evenly throughout the year.