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End the craze to build new 'ancient' towns, theme parks
By Cao Kai |
September 29, 2012, Saturday
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AN ambitious plan to build a huge, 2.7 billion yuan (US$426 million) theme park based on a legendary love story in a small county in east China's Anhui Province has stirred heated debate.
Huaining County, population 700,000, is the site of the tombs Jiao Zhongqin and Liu Lanzhi, a couple in a tragic love story who were forced to separate by their parents but reunited after they committed suicide together.
Many people are wondering if the massive investment based on a celebrated 1,000-year-old poem can really attract the tourist numbers the government expects and create sufficient economic returns.
The park plan has also reminded many of a failed tourist town in Henan Province's Runan County, the so-called home of the "Butterfly Lovers," China's answer to Romeo and Juliet.
The town is desolate today, since its supposed fame has failed to attract tourists and investment. Instead of bringing in cultural gold, the project has ground to an embarrassing standstill.
Many Chinese cities are nevertheless following suit, in the hope that past glories, or just a good story, can bring prosperity in the present.
It is time to put the brakes on this legend theme park construction extravaganza.
These projects were mostly carried out without consulting the public, an oversight that harms the interests of the public and causes mistrust between citizens and local governments.
The culture industry promises to drive domestic consumption, but spending billions to erect a new "ancient" town on the basis of a fairy tale or an ancient poem is an abuse of public funds.
Project funding relies heavily on banks and real estate developers, which causes great concern for their viability in these days of slowed growth.
The local businessman investor behind Runan County's "Butterfly Lovers" project withdrew due to cash flow problems in his company, leaving unfinished roads and withered trees on the vast area of land leased from villagers.
Yet an equally important force in Runan's cautionary tale is that potential punters may simply be unwilling to pay for a trip on a bumpy country road to see nothing but two tombs.
The construction craze may also pose great financial risks to the government. As some projects struggle to woo private investors, many governments pin their hopes on the banks.
The reality is that it's very hard to recoup the investment solely through tourism in the way local governments have anticipated.
Huge debts will be passed along to the next government and the public will suffer in the end.
And in many cases, the projects require relocation of thousands of residents.
Experiences in some Chinese cities have shown that brand-new ancient towns have not necessarily brought more tourists, as they cannot but fail to replicate the essence of the former civilization. Besides, many genuine heritage sites were already destroyed years ago in the construction spree that came with China's modernization drive.
For the government, the desire to dismantle a city and reshape it is very appealing since investment in construction drives up GDP growth. But for the sake of the people, local governments should cool this investment craze.
The author is a Xinhua writer.
Huaining County, population 700,000, is the site of the tombs Jiao Zhongqin and Liu Lanzhi, a couple in a tragic love story who were forced to separate by their parents but reunited after they committed suicide together.
Many people are wondering if the massive investment based on a celebrated 1,000-year-old poem can really attract the tourist numbers the government expects and create sufficient economic returns.
The park plan has also reminded many of a failed tourist town in Henan Province's Runan County, the so-called home of the "Butterfly Lovers," China's answer to Romeo and Juliet.
The town is desolate today, since its supposed fame has failed to attract tourists and investment. Instead of bringing in cultural gold, the project has ground to an embarrassing standstill.
Many Chinese cities are nevertheless following suit, in the hope that past glories, or just a good story, can bring prosperity in the present.
It is time to put the brakes on this legend theme park construction extravaganza.
These projects were mostly carried out without consulting the public, an oversight that harms the interests of the public and causes mistrust between citizens and local governments.
The culture industry promises to drive domestic consumption, but spending billions to erect a new "ancient" town on the basis of a fairy tale or an ancient poem is an abuse of public funds.
Project funding relies heavily on banks and real estate developers, which causes great concern for their viability in these days of slowed growth.
The local businessman investor behind Runan County's "Butterfly Lovers" project withdrew due to cash flow problems in his company, leaving unfinished roads and withered trees on the vast area of land leased from villagers.
Yet an equally important force in Runan's cautionary tale is that potential punters may simply be unwilling to pay for a trip on a bumpy country road to see nothing but two tombs.
The construction craze may also pose great financial risks to the government. As some projects struggle to woo private investors, many governments pin their hopes on the banks.
The reality is that it's very hard to recoup the investment solely through tourism in the way local governments have anticipated.
Huge debts will be passed along to the next government and the public will suffer in the end.
And in many cases, the projects require relocation of thousands of residents.
Experiences in some Chinese cities have shown that brand-new ancient towns have not necessarily brought more tourists, as they cannot but fail to replicate the essence of the former civilization. Besides, many genuine heritage sites were already destroyed years ago in the construction spree that came with China's modernization drive.
For the government, the desire to dismantle a city and reshape it is very appealing since investment in construction drives up GDP growth. But for the sake of the people, local governments should cool this investment craze.
The author is a Xinhua writer.
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