Figure 13 Coffeehouses and local produce vendors in Shuhe, Lijiang.
Photo by Rachel Miller
Figure 14 Wenhai valley on Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Lijiang.
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The villages of Shuhe and Baisha, while still within the World Heritage site, were not subject to such strict building regulations as the old town. Here, too, traditional aspects of daily life are disappearing, but there is also a more creative and community-based evolution of economy and culture in these villages that includes residents as well as outside entrepreneurs; continued local agriculture as well as arty cafes and craft galleries (Figure 13).
Even farther from Dayan old town, the remote high valley of Wenhai provided yet a different perspective on the interaction of environmental and cultural preservation and tourist development (Figure 14). Reached by the BE Lab group on horseback up the flanks of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Wenhai is the site of three Naxi villages and an “ecolodge” joint venture development between the villagers and various outside agencies including the Nature Conservancy, UC Davis, the Japanese government and the Ford Foundation. The Lodge is run by a cooperative owned jointly by most of the households in Wenhai, and marketed to backpacking mountain trekkers.
The ecolodge has been only a moderate commercial success, although it has augmented the villagers’ cash income from animal husbandry, which is still considerable, as the valley is a broad wetland capable of supporting herds of
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Study Tour in Sichuan and Yunan
