China is crowded, everyone knows that (more than 1.3 billion people live there). And when China is on summer vacations it is difficult to find a historical or natural or sacred site that is not packed with students, families and pilgrims altogether.
Indeed, on the pathways of the buddhist sanctuary of Emei Shan in the Sichuan province – one of the four holiest buddhist mountain in the world – it is hard to make our way through the thousands of people who come here rather to see the monkeys and take pictures from the cable car than for a pilgrimage*. It is not so surprising as only 20% of Chinese are buddhists, 70% believing in no God whatsoever. As a consequence, spirits of the mountain have probably followed the monks who abandon the temples, at least during the peak season. Once again, it seems that being a UNESCO World Heritage Site is more a curse than a benediction for nature : the place benefits from a prestigious publicity but it doesn’t seem keen on enforcing basic regulations (e.g. people still throw their garbage in the forest; sewage from public toilets go directly in the so-called “holy water source” at the base of the mountain; cars are allowed to the top, etc.).
China is developing and growing at a very fast pace (about 10% annual economic growth) and everywhere we go it is a dusty landscape of buildings and roads in construction. Following a mercyless tourism and development policy, many old towns – such as those we have visited in Kashgar (we were kind of lucky in that city, see recent news from The Economist), Xiahe, Langmusi, Songpan, and to some extent Yanshui – are being destroyed and rebuilt following a standard design. Walls made of mud and wood are replaced by bricks and undergo a “facial lifting” in order to look old. The result is that the charm is forever gone and tourists come more for souvenirs shopping than for a taste of history.
An immensely rich historical and cultural heritage is being lost. It is time China realizes that clearing the past is not the way to go to build an enlightening future.
VB
*In the previous post, the noise recorded in Emeishan was not the buzz of tourists : the culprit is an insect from the Cicadas family. Their love song can be deafening. In fact, it’s the loudest song known in the insect world. Some species of cicadas register over 100 decibels when singing !