On June 24, 2011, West Lake Cultural Landscape of Hangzhou was successfully inscribed on the WHL. After its successful inscription, many national and local newspapers and social media circulated the news with the title ‘让世界读懂西湖’ (See Xinhuanet.com 2011; People.com 2011b; Hangzhou.com 2011), which translated in to English means ‘How to translate the meaning of West Lake to the world’. On the one hand those articles generally described the extremely difficult process that the Hangzhou government had put great effort into to improve the infrastructure and change the built environment of West Lake to fit the authenticity and integrity standards of UNESCO (Zhejiang Daily 2010).
99
One the other hand, those articles argued that the key to the successful World Heritage nomination was that the Western examiners and World Heritage Committee finally understood the value of West Lake and how it matched the OUV, though they could not understand the Chinese value of West Lake in the first place. However, those materials only addressed the physical changes and a sense of pride from the upper classes, such as experts and governments’ officials. Except for the World Heritage nomination, the reasons for the Hangzhou government’s desperate attempts for Western recognition are still unclear. The process of how Chinese experts translated Chinese values for them to be finally understood by international authorities is still vague. In this section I will analyse my interview results with local authorities to explore whether World Heritage listing simply augmented existing values, or did it in fact change or otherwise rework and create new values and meanings of sites? Also, what role does tourism play in any changes of understanding or value to Chinese World Heritage sites from the local authorities’ perspectives?
I interviewed the director of the Cultural Heritage Monitoring and Management Centre of West Lake, who was in charge of the World Heritage application and management issues on 13th November, 2013, hereafter referred to as WL140. A government official (WL141) from the Cultural Heritage Monitoring and Management Centre of West Lake was interviewed on 7th November, 2013. On 4th December, 2013, I also interviewed two vice-directors (WL142 and WL143) from the Institute of Architectural History, which is under the supervision of the China Architecture Design and Research Group, and who wrote the nomination dossier for the West Lake World Heritage Listing. One of the key questions I asked was 'How do you personally understand World Heritage?'
WL140: Well, your question is too broad. As a World Heritage site manager, I have to be very familiar with the standards and demands of the WHC and the operational guidelines, and carry them out in our management system. I do not think discussing my personal understanding is important. I think the concept of World Heritage is a kind of game, which means a process for WH listing. This game has been changing and evolving in recent decades. It is the responsibility of UNESCO, ICOMOS and IUCN to improve the game rules. The thing we need to consider is to adapt to the new rules and how to apply the international policy to our site. That is what I need to keep in mind.
100
From her perspective, World Heritage is a game designed by international authorities such as UNESCO, ICOMOS and IUCN. She did not care about her personal understanding of World Heritage, the key issue for her was her ability to ‘correctly’ implement international definitions and policies. In fact, the World Heritage listing was a process where local authorities' worked with experts, exploring the game rules of the UNESCO World Heritage Program. During this process, Chinese cultural values or management practices were superseded by the perception that China is playing a game whose rules are set internationally, and therefore everyone involved must forego some of their own cultural understanding in the process.
After Hangzhou, every province and city in China has the ambition of having a heritage site inscribed on the World Heritage List (see, for instance, China.com 2004; Xinhuanet.com 2010; Sina.com 2013; People.cn 2014). One of the significant reasons is nationalism. As Meyer (2008:179) wittily observes, ‘China wants UNESCO World Heritage sites the same way actors want Oscars, for the recognition’. The number of inscribed properties is a form of ‘soft-power’ to increase China’s, at least from the perspective of the Chinese, international political and economic legitimacy. The successful inscription is believed to have reinforced the popularity of Hangzhou at an international level. The interviews with WL142 and 143 demonstrate these issues:
WL142: The local government have made up their mind about WHL a long time ago. The ex-mayor of Hangzhou Guoping Wang had been in charge of the WHL application.
WL143: The citizens of Hangzhou, including Guoping Wang, have been proud of West Lake. West Lake has received all the highest titles at the national level, such as
全国重点文物保护单位 (National Cultural Relics) and 风景名胜区 (Scenic and
Historic Interest Areas). They want their site to be recognised at a broader international level, not only the recognition of the reputation, but also their efforts for the protection of West Lake. In addition, their enthusiasm for World Heritage listing is not driven by economic reasons, at least not the key elements.
WL142: I agree, there was no World Heritage site in Zhejiang province before West Lake, which many people were embarrassed about because Zhejiang is a well- developed area in China and also has profound and representative cultural sites. WHL
101
has brought an international brand that Hangzhou citizens consider has good opportunities for both the economic and cultural development of the city. I think, in other words, that WHL is not the final aim but plays a role as a catalyst for Hangzhou’s development.
WL143: The year before government officials invited us to plan the nomination dossier, they already had done research. Their research was not only based on collecting traditional Chinese cultural and historical information, but explored management and planning systems in the contemporary era.
The responses from WL142 and 143 illustrate that before West Lake was successfully inscribed on the WHL, provincial governments fell embarrassed that there was no World Heritage site in Zhejiang province. The inscription strongly reinforced their sense of nationalism. As Guoping Wang, former mayor of Hangzhou and leader of the UNESCO listing application, stated: 'The landscape belongs to not just Hangzhou, but also to (the rest of) China and the whole world,' (Whiteley 2011). As WL143 said, the local government had done a lot of research before they began to write the nomination dossier. In order to be part of the game designed by international authorities, the Hangzhou government had prepared for more than ten years to ensure a successful inscription.
RRZ: What were the reasons that encouraged the local government to apply for World Heritage listing of West Lake?
WL140: Well, the listing process is an absolutely hard and long task. At first, many domestic experts suggested West Lake should apply as a combination site, as they think West Lake possesses both outstanding natural and cultural values. However, we carefully read the standards and demands for combination sites from the Operational Guidelines. Based on the four categories for listing a nature site, West Lake hardly qualified. Therefore, we give up the original thought of applying for a combination site, and focused on a cultural heritage application. With a long process of discussions and seminars by experts, we decided to apply for a cultural landscape listing. West Lake is an outstanding example of the Cultural Landscape category; it represents the work done by humans and nature.
102
WL140: Well, it is very hard to understand the game rules of the World Heritage program, which is the key issue for World Heritage listing. How to explain clearly the OUV of West Lake, and make sure our discourse can be understood by international experts and fits this international game’s rules.
RRZ: As far as I know, from your article in 2007, you pointed out the importance of the West Lake Protection Project [2002-1010], and mentioned that some locals have been moved from their houses that were located beside the World Heritage nomination area to other places in the city. Could you please tell me more about this? WL140：The West Lake Protection Project started in 2002, but was not only for the World Heritage application. It aims to solve several problems of West Lake. Firstly, many public open spaces that belonged to the public were occupied by state-owned enterprises and residents because of reasons of history. The most important task for this project was to move out these residents to new settlements. It is a very hard process. We did not move all of them, and most of the tea farmers and other residents who lived there for generations can stay. But they should renovate the old houses with the guidance of local government, in order to develop well-organised '景中村village in scenic sites' (Fig.5.5). However, residents who work for state-owned enterprises and their families should move, and the local governments had provided a great offer for their resettlement.
Secondly, the project aimed to improve the water quality of West Lake. The facilities of the old houses, those close to the lake were poor, and domestic sewage directly discharged into the lake which had caused water pollution. There has been a great improvement [in water quality] because of this project.
In addition, during this project, a large area of fishponds, disordered old houses and abandoned farmland located at the west of the West Lake has been returned to wetlands (Fig. 5.6). We also introduced water from the Qiantang River to ensure the water quality of West Lake.
103
Apart from specific protection and management projects, the responses show that following the game rules designed by international authorities was the priority during the ten year long listing process. Local governments' effort focused on how to promote attention and recognition from Western experts. In the listing process local government policy makers tried their best to translate Chinese traditional philosophy and understandings of heritage into terms understandable by the international community in order to meet the international standards required for recognition. In this process, local Chinese values were reworked around the AHD, a discourse that favours the idea that heritage is ultimately about national identity (Smith 2006: 48-49). As Askew (2010) explains, one of the key reasons for the popularity of the World Heritage program is that the successful nomination of a site enables states to promote their own nationalism. An example of this can be found in my interview with WL141:
Fig. 5.5 ‘Village in scenic sites’ before (left) and after (right) the West Lake Protection Project (Source from the Hangzhou government)
Fig. 5.6 The physical changes to the Maojiabu area before and after the West Lake Protection Project (Photo in August 2002, sourced from the Hangzhou government)
104
WL141: The listing process is an absolutely hard task. We have to be familiar with the WHC, The Operational Guidelines. We also have to research what the Western heritage experts' and World Heritage Committee's considerations are for the successful listing of sites. It is really a tough process. For example, a Western heritage examiner from Norway who represented the advisory body ICOMOS came to West Lake. During his visit, he mentioned that it was just a normal lake that can be found anywhere in the world, and in particular in his hometown. At first, it is very hard to explain to him a Chinese understanding of West Lake. His background is based on the Western ideology, and he had confused the OUV we tried to explain. Therefore, we have organised many seminars and discussions with both Chinese and Western experts in order to find a way that Western experts could understand what we are trying to express. We also have strictly based the nomination on the Operational Guideline's definition of Cultural Landscape that represents the "combined works of nature and of man" to explain OUV of West Lake and its authenticity and integrity. Finally, the Western experts (including that Norwegian expert from ICOMOS) and the World Heritage Committee recognised the outstanding values of West Lake. I do not know how much they understand, nevertheless West Lake was inscribed on the WHL.
The responses from WL141 reflects those of WL140, in that the process of the World Heritage listing was a process of reading, exploring and understanding the game rules of the UNESCO World Heritage Program. She gave me an impressive example about how difficult it was to translate the Chinese values to Western experts in order to get support from ICOMOS. She indicates that the most important point of the inscription of World Heritage listing was for nationalism. Whether Western experts truly understand the value of West Lake for the Chinese was seen as less important. During my interview with the national government official (GO002) in Chapter 4 (see page 74-75), he also told me the same story of the Norwegian expert from ICOMOS. The local newspapers such as Zhejiang Daily (see
China Tourism News 2009; Zhejiang Daily 2010; Hangzhou.com 2011), as well as Chinese official websites such as Xinhuanet.com (2011) and People.com (2011), quoted this ICOMOS expert as well. This reveals a strong and persistent perception that the Chinese and their values could not be understood by Europeans, and the Norwegian expert became a symbol of the need to translate Chinese values for Western contexts. This reflects the perspectives of Chinese officials about the West, as they considered that Chinese values must
105
be edited based on so called ‘international standards’ for recognition by the dominant authorities.
The interview with WL143 supports what WL140, WL141 and GO002 said, and she further indicated the details of how those Chinese values have been edited:
WL143: Well, West Lake was our first nomination project. We were not familiar with the six criteria for Cultural Heritage Listing. Professor Tongbing Chen and his team (including us) had discussed with other experts and scholars of Hangzhou in order to abstract the OUV of West Lake. It is a long process. At first, our position of assessing the heritage value of West Lake was based on our traditional recognition of a Chinese Landscape, rather than considered from an international view. Therefore, we had carefully researched the criteria and standards of the WH program. When we re- abstracted and re-formulated the heritage values of West Lake from our earlier works, we always keep in mind that our view should be based on a global perspective. As you mentioned, there are six criteria for assessing a World Cultural Heritage site, they are six different aspects that you understand and interpret a heritage site by, rather than fixed criteria. You know, the main aim of assessing a World Heritage site is OUV, with the six criteria helping to interpret why the site has OUV.
Although WL143 did not mention what exact Chinese values have been edited or compromised, she clearly stated that in order to ensure the successful inscription, 'we always keep in mind that our view should be based on a global perspective'.The Zhejiang Daily
(2011) published an interview with Professor Tongbing Chen, who was the primary expert in charge of the West Lake World Heritage nomination. She indicated that the sense of feeling is the key issue that cannot be understand by Western peoples:
Since the Southern Song Dynasty, it is a sense of feeling that Chinese can perceive landscape and Chinese painting with specific meanings. However, these meanings are hardly understood by Western people. Therefore, we have to explain West Lake to Western examiners in their ways (Zhejiang Daily 2011, translated by Rouran Zhang). As Professor Tongbing Chen said, the sense of feeling is a key concept that Western people cannot understand. However, the Chinese experts tried their best to pare the square peg of Chinese values to fit into the round hole of UNESCO standards, and focused on making sure
106
the physical values, historical and cultural values could fit UNESCO’s ‘OUV’ or be understood by Western experts. There is no literature or other materials with which to analyse what the sense of feeling is and why it cannot understand by Western people. One of the tasks of my thesis is to explore what the sense of feeling is, and demonstrate that it is a significant concept representing Chinese values and should be considered in the World Heritage game. I will analyse this issue, which linked to tourists’ perceptions in Chapter six (page xx). In addition, the interview with WL143 also reflected what the ‘global perspective’ of the WHL process focusses on, which shows that the perspectives of local communities about heritage value has been ignored. All local government officials intended to avoid or gave me vague information when I ask them whether the local communities participated or not during the listing process. However, the two experts (WL142 and 143) answered:
WL142: No, they were not. The listing process and final decision was based on discussions between experts and site managers. Local communities did not participate in this project. Actually, most villages are not in the nomination area of the final document.
WL143: Yes, most of the inscribed area is public space. We had nominated the Longjin Tea Plantation Base (Fig.5.7) which included local residents in the final document, and this was rejected by UNESCO. Nevertheless, the listing decision was made according to the discussions with site managers and experts.
107
The listing process was a combination of work between experts and government officials. Local communities who are supposed to be significant stakeholders had been ignored, while tourists were not necessarily seen as stakeholders. My interviews show that China perceived itself to be playing a game, the rules of which it did not make up. They subverted Chinese values, which could not be explained to Western experts, in favour of those of international policy and expertise. This is important as, ultimately, these values and ‘rules’ frame the management of West Lake to some extent as the Chinese government must, to maintain the listing, not deviate from the rules of the game. These rules facilitated Chinese policy makers and managers ignoring local communities and their values. Thus, they and other non- government and non-expert stakeholders become marginalized in the management of the site. To follow on from these issues another important question that I asked was, 'Has World