Research On The Cultural Preservation And Tourism Development Of Ciqikou Town

The 1980s and 1990s have seen the boom of ancient town tourism. With rich historical resources and cultural deposits, this kind of tourism has prospered ever since then, given its strong attraction to visitors, which has geared up the revitalization and development of old towns. In the mean time, such human activities have had some side impacts on cultural protection which cannot be neglected, resulting in over-commercialization, saturated capacity, and homogenization of tourism products. Resources preservation is the precondition and key of tourism development. It is only when the ancient towns are well taken care of and their human spirits are finely inherited that the consistent prosper and vigor of ancient towns would be made possible. Therefore, the study on the relations between preservation and development and strategies will bring an active influence.Located in the city proper of Chongqing municipality, the ancient town of Ciqikou enjoys a long history and rich cultural contents. As a typical miniature of Chongqing, it has appealed many visitors from home and abroad. With more eyes-focusing, the conflicts between protection and development have become increasingly prominent. Problems like poor planning, fading folk culture, and commercialization overtaking history have badly hindered its further progress. Such a town is apparently an empty one without the core of culture, which will affect its value and sustainable development.Logically arranged in the context of ancient towns, towns'cultures, tourism, cultural protection and tour development, this essay takes efforts to elaborate on their mutual beneficial and conflicting relations. Taking the current situations and problems in Ciqikou into consideration, I have put forward some recommendation on its future development based on previous research achievements, hoping that this may be helpful for its revitalization and bring it back into sound cycle.There are all together 8 parts in this essay. Part 1 is the preface, introducing the background, content and method. Part 2 elaborates on the concepts and types of ancient towns, cultural heritage and resources. Part 3 tracks the development of town tour. Part 4 studies the relations between culture and tourism and emphasizes that the culture is the foundation of tourism. Part 5 illustrates and analyses its current situation and the problems are raised in part 6. Relevant measurements and suggestions are therefore put forward in part 7. Part 8 is the conclusion, with main ideas concluded and new problems raised.