The faculty intended the charrette to be as much a pedagogical exercise and a part of the surveying activity – a means of gathering information from stakeholder reactions to the students’ ideas – as an attempt to share useful ideas with the community. Discovering a great gap in communication and understanding between villagers and local government officials, however, and also alarmed by the current rapid and heavy-handed approach to developing the Zagunao valley and expanding tourist facilities in Taoping, the faculty and students felt it necessary to clarify some basic principles on which truly sustainable development should proceed, regardless which specific scenario might prevail. The faculty therefore developed the “Taoping Five Points”: a Statement on the Future Development of Taoping Qiang Village, to present along with the student scenarios, first to Li County government officers and Party officials, and then to Taoping Villagers:

1. The development of New Taoping Qiang Village should not be rushed, but should proceed gradually, in a proper sequence of steps, bearing in mind that re-housing residents after the earthquake must be addressed first and quickly; immediate re-housing efforts should not be confused with long-term plans for appropriate sustainable development.

2. Economic development should be approached in multiple ways; tourism, agriculture, and ecological preservation should be combined organically; they are not mutually exclusive, nor can they be addressed in isolation from each other.

3. Preservation should treat historic Taoping Qiang Village as a living entity. Residents should be allowed to continue living within and using the historic district; historic Taoping Qiang Village should not simply become a museum to exhibit to visitors; Taoping’s heritage is not limited to its architecture, but includes its cultural landscape as well; its heritage is both natural as well as cultural.