Reconstruction of rural cultural spaces driven by tourism development: A comparative study of two Chinese Traditional Villages in Shanxi Province

The rapid development of rural tourism in China is reflected in many of the so-called ‘Chinese Traditional Villages’, which are villages that have been officially designated as having rich rural culture and cultural heritage. The rurality of Chinese Traditional Villages, as carriers of rural cultural spaces, is often seen to be transformed or even undermined as a result of various forms of tourist development. This research draws on a theorisation of rural space derived from the work of the British Geographer Keith Halfacree and eleven months of ethnographic fieldwork in two Chinese Traditional Villages: Zhangbi Ancient Fortress and Hougou Ancient Village, which were both designated in 2012 as part of the first batch of these villages in Shanxi Province. Based on participant observation, 66 interviews with local government officials, local village leaders and residents, folklorists, and leaders from the tourism corporations, along with secondary data analysis, this research aims to explore how rural cultural spaces are transformed through tourism development focusing on three dimensions of space, namely, material cultural spaces, symbolic cultural spaces, and lived cultural spaces. By analysing and comparing the contrasting reconstruction processes of rural cultural spaces between the two selected villages, it is found that these processes involve constant negotiation and resistance among different groups of actors to achieve their own ends, as well as complex interactions between state political power, external capital forces, and the agency of village residents, continuously forming, mediating, and shaping the construction and reconstruction of rural cultural spaces in tourism development. The research contributes to not only developing a conceptual framework around the multi-dimensionality of rural cultural space but also providing a more active and holistic understanding of the emergence of the hybrid rurality of Chinese Traditional Villages amid rapid rural tourism development.