Suchergebnisse

1.Introduction -- Lijiang Old Town and the Naxi -- Ethnic Tourism in China -- Cultural Heritage in China -- Romantic Consumption -- Authenticity, Authentication, and Customization -- Why the Naxi Wedding Courtyard? -- A Note on the Method -- Theatre of the Book -- 2.Stage -- Reconstructing a World Heritage Site -- The Development of Mass Tourism -- Becoming a Town of Romance -- Transforming into a Capital of Love Affairs (Yanyu) -- Creating a Cultural Theme Park -- Conclusion -- 3.Scripts -- Dongba as Religious Practitioners -- Transformations in Dongba Practices since 1949 -- Traditional Naxi Wedding -- Current Marriage Customs in Lijiang -- The `Dongba Wedding' in the Courtyard -- Conclusion -- 4.Local Actors -- The Manager, Mr. Liu -- The Dongba, Fuhua -- The Adviser, Prof. Ming -- The Moderator, Mei -- The Dancer, Chao -- Locals' Responses: Hope and Frustration -- Conclusion -- 5.Guests -- The Honeymooners, Vincent and Lulu -- New Lijiang Residents, Wang and Yan -- He Gang from Naxi Mama -- Foreign Tourists, Marina and Johnson -- Conclusion -- 6.After the Show -- Wandering between Dream and Reality -- Embracing a New Home -- Resistance, Coping, and Departure -- Conclusion -- 7.Conclusion -- Romantic Consumption and Customization -- Global Significance of a Local Courtyard.

The drums beat, an old man in a grand robe mutters incantations and three brides on horseback led by their grooms on foot proceed to the Naxi Wedding Courtyard, accompanied, watched and photographed the whole way by tourists, who have bought tickets for the privilege. The traditional wedding ceremonies are performed for the ethnic tourism industry in Lijiang, a World Heritage town in southwest China. This book examines how heritage interacts with social-cultural changes and how individuals perform and negotiate their identities through daily practices that include tourism, on the one hand, and the performance of ethnicity on the other. The wedding performances in Lijiang not only serve as a heritage 'product' but show how the heritage and tourism industry helps to shape people's values, dreams and expectations. This book also explores the rise of 'romantic consumerism' in contemporary China. Chinese dissatisfaction with the urban mundane leads to romanticized interests in practices and people deemed to be natural, ethnic, spiritual and aesthetic, and a search for tradition and authenticity. But what, exactly, are tradition and authenticity, and what happens to them when they are turned into performance?