Dark tourism in China

abstract:
This paper discuss the general situation(including attractions, tourists' motivations) about dark tourism in China. meanwhile, it critically assesses the popular debate about dark tourism in China.

Key words: dark tourism, development, red tourism, ethical

Dark tourism is not a new phenomenon around the world. A large number of sites and attractions associated with death, tragedy and disaster have become significant tourist destinations right across the world. It is first put forward in the mid 1990's by Professors John Lennon and Malcolm Foley. Either in dark tourism research or dark tourism practice, the western world has made big progress. However, it is an emerging market in China. We do not have mature dark tourism neither in theory nor practice. The main purpose of this paper is talking about the attractions, motivations and argument about dark tourism in China, meanwhile, showing its changing face in China under the development of travel industry.

First of all, as an old nation which has 5000 years history, China has an abundance of dark tourism attractions including natural and man-made; it is wise to take advantage of these heritage attractions. For example, sites of disaster, either natural or man-made, such as Wenchuan earthquake and gas warfare sit; other sites of human atrocities and genocide. It is reliable to give examples according to dark tourism spectrum(Stone, 2005) which classify dark tourism from lightest to darkest. For example, Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall(the darkest dark tourism) and Terracotta Warriors( the light dark tourism).

Secondly, although we are unsure whether dark tourism is attraction-supply driven or consumer-demand driven, as a travel product, it is significant to explore tourists' motivation. According to Stone (2005), tourists' motivation toward dark tourism can be applied into Chinese people and mainly can be concluded as follows: on one hand, people visit these sites for remembrance and education; on the other hand, for entertainment purposes. In my opinion, remembrance and education is the main purpose for dark tourism in China. Because we have a special form of dark tourism which is called red tourism. Yoko Takayama(2012) suggests that in fact, red tourism is better described as a tourism built on political pilgrimage, which emphasises the visiting of national sacred places, such as the birthplaces and residences of past communist leaders, 'glorious' battlefields, and revolutionary martyrs' cemeteries and memorials, in order to learn revolutionary history and to boost the national prestige of socialist countries. People learn history, spirit and achievement that Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have done in the past. In ancient China, people are superstitious. They avoid death, disaster and all kinds of dark things; because they believe it would bring them bad luck. However, in the 20th century, with the development of economy, education, people's minds have changed. They are willing to accept new things and become more open-minded. I think it is an important reason that dark tourism can develop in China.

Thirdly, as a new phenomenon, without doubt, it will become a controversial topic. Some scholars are against developing dark tourism in China. They put forward some basic questions: Is it acceptable to turn a site of pain and death into a tourist attraction? Is there a risk that dark tourism destinations would lose their gravity and historical meaning when mass tourists flock to the sites? Besides, they think it is immoral to make use of death or disaster to make profits. Li Jing-long and Zheng Shu-jing (2006) reports that Commoditisation and commercialisation make dark tourism sites ethically unacceptable. From my perspective, I believe that the advantages of dark tourism far outweigh its disadvantages. First of all, dark tourism can and should be executed respectfully, educationally and in a way that can benefit the victim communities. For example, after Wen Chuan earthquake happened in 2008, when tourists travel there, it may assist awareness as tourists explore ways to identify with victims and become part of the help mechanism. "Tourism is changing," Prohaska (2012) said, tourists see these things, and once they've experienced it, they say, 'What can I do to help?' According to CCTV news in China (2009), some visitors helped by donating money; some people are helping by coming to the city and rolling up their sleeves to build houses during the period that Wen Chuan became a dark tourism destination. Secondly, dark tourism plays an important role in the education system. China has been through an extremely hard and bitter time since the First Opium War in 1840. She fought for territorial integrity, peace and stable. Although we live in a peaceful environment now, it is essential to remember what forerunners have done for us. Therefore, red tourism is the best way to inform and educate people especially young people. It can improve patriotic feeling and national honour for China. In addition, it also teaches Chinese people never to forget national humiliation. Thirdly, dark tourism sites in China represent the Chinese cultural heritage to the world. For example, the Great Wall and Terracotta Warriors. Underlying motivation, travellers, especially foreign travellers can satisfy their desire to witness certain events in a respectful manner. I believe that the tourism industry has a responsibility to support and promote destinations in need. From the discussion above, one can conclude that although dark tourism has its drawbacks, it is still growing and it has potential to be developed in China.

In conclusion, generally, dark tourism management occupies an important position in the process of development. As far as I am concerned, dark tourism is a branch of tourism, it is crucial to coordinate economy, social and environment. Apart from the similar strategy that has been applied in normal tourism products, dark tourism is a special interest product; one should pay more attention to lifecycle and ethical issues. It could be argued, however, that governments should play done the need to profit financially from such tourism and emphasise its cultural, educational and social advantages. In a word, dark tourism do exists in China and have some similar features with that in other countries. However, it has special form like red tourism. Because of globalisation, the world is changing every day, China is changing every day and people's minds are changing every second. I believe that under the joint efforts of government and the travel industry; dark tourism in China will develop at a breath-taking pace and become more popular all over the world.

Reference:
Baran, M. (2012), dark tourism.[On Line][Accessed 3 May 2013]Available at:< http://www.travelweekly.com/travel-news/tour-operators/dark-tourism/>
Stone, P.R. (2005) Consuming Dark Tourism: a call for research. eReview of Tourism Research, 3(5):109-117
Yoko Takayama(2009): Red tourism in China. [On Line][Access 4 May 2013]Available at :< mercury.ethz.ch/serviceengine/Files/ISN/.../11-09_Takayama.pdf&#8206;>

I have chosen to comment on this paper mostly due to the mention of red tourism, which is an idea featured within my conference paper on North Korea. In my work I likened the appeal of North Korea's socialist/nationalist monuments to that of communist heritage and memorial sights in China. It is also very significant to look at China when thinking of the barriers which face the development of international tourism in North Korea as China has dealt similarly with a negative image in the West.

This paper does well to discuss the presence of dark tourism throughout the country at sights like Wen Chuan and Nanjing and presents Stone's (2005) dark tourism spectrum ranging sights from light to dark. The article's structure is formed of three sections; the first begins by considering China's dark tourism in a historical context, looking at both man-made and natural attractions; the second considers the phenomenon from a motivational perspective and finally the last section touches upon issues and controversy surrounding China's dark tourism.

Regarding dark tourism motivators, the case is made here that 'remembrance', 'education' and 'entertainment' are valid factors (Stone, 2005) - however the author believes from personal insight that in the case of China, 'education' and 'entertainment' are very much at the forefront of tourist interest, especially where red tourism is concerned. The author here quotes Takayama (2012) in arguing that red tourism is 'tourism built on political pilgrimage' visiting memorials devoted to 'past communist leaders' past war zones and 'revolutionary martyrs'. These ideas are not exclusively seen in China however, as McKenzie (2013) gives evidence of soviet-tourism in ex-soviet countries like Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, where both international and domestic tourists travel to sights of relevance to the rise and fall of the Soviet Union in these countries. Meanwhile in North Korea monuments like the ones on Mansu Hill commemorate the founding and founders of the state's socialist rule and its 'victories' in war against its rivals Japan, the U.S.A and most notably South Korea. Something which I noticed to be very similar here is the mention of 'revolutionary martyrs' as the 'revolutionary martyrs' cemetery' is one of the main dark tourism attractions in North Korea (korea-dpr.com 2011). The similarities between dark tourism sites in North Korea, China and the Baltic states are clearly evident and all are used in order to educate, commemorate and increase national prestige.

China's evolving relationship with dark tourism is where the country differs from others mentioned, as the argument is made here that the country's traditionally superstitious nature has the potential to hinder dark tourism development, yet with recent developments in the country and changes in Chinese thinking, growth of Chinese dark tourism's popularity could very well be evident in years to come. Yet there are few areas of tourism without critics, as the author points out that some in China see the typically 'western' process of commoditisation in a negative light and would argue that dark tourism sights are simply exploitation of sacred places.

As its name suggests, dark tourism is not the most agreeable and typically pleasant area of niche tourism, yet as this paper concludes, it is very much present in China - a country with a rich story to tell, some of which is shrouded in controversy, turmoil and darkness. Overall the paper makes a convincing argument that though dark tourism in China is not without controversy, it does very much have its purposes in this age-old, emerging nation.

- Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (2011) [Website], Korean Friendship Association, Pyongyang, accessed 29 April 2013, <http://www.korea-dpr.com>

- McKenzie, B. (2013) 'Soviet tourism in the Baltic states: remembrance versus nostalgia - just different shades of dark?' In: White, L & Frew, E. 'Dark Tourism and Place Identity: Managing and Interpreting Dark Places' (Abingdon: Routledge)