An Analysis On Culture Authenticity Reflecting In Tourist Souvenirs Development

The continuous improvement of people’s living standards is contributingto the tourism industry which is growing vigorously. As an importantcomponent of the tourism consumption, souvenirs consumption, to a greatextent, function as a kind of ideological culture consumption. Integrated withrelevant theory and methodology of tourism anthropology and anthropology,the essay taking Hohhot tourism souvenirs in Inner Mongolia AutonomousRegion as a typical case, shall focus on how souvenirs, an integrated part ofnational culture and a kind of culture symbol, can be selected and positioned.Besides, this essay will have an emphasis on commercialization andauthenticity of souvenirs during the commercialization process of the nationalculture. Moreover, the paper will concern, on one hand, how to preserve andpass on the national culture during commercialization processing of thenational culture and keep the culture “native” from destruction and on theother hand how to develop continuously the national culture in order to adaptand meet tourists’ needs and modern society demand.The main contents of the essay include the following:Firstly, it analysis and defines what is the souvenir and associatedconcept and sort out the differentiated theories concerning “cultureauthenticity”. Secondly, the overview of Hohhot travel souvenirs will beintroduced, on the basis of which, the souvenirs will be categorized andanalyzed in the features. The souvenirs, retreated as a culture as a whole, willbe elaborated in depth on the essence of the culture. Thirdly, thequestionnaires have been spread and filled in by producers and marketers oftourism souvenirs and tourists and interviews have been conducted betweenthem with the aim of understanding “culture orientation” and “cultureselection” of the souvenirs under business operation and consumption. On thebasis of this, it will explore the question of “culture authenticity” in the commercialization processing of national culture.The conclusion will be given as follows:The commercialization of the national culture is mainly reflected in thetourism industry. The Mongolian cultural symbols are widely being used inHohhot tourist souvenirs. According to the survey conducted by the author,the businesses in Hohhot city generally consider that the tourist souvenirsembodying Mongolian features sell well in the market. They therefore mainlyselect Mongolian culture as the “culture orientation” to run their business. Fortourists, they firstly think of the souvenirs featured by national and localcharacters when they begin to select travel souvenirs. Apparently, thesouvenirs with distinctive Mongolian features are very popular among tourists.However, the “culture authenticity” reflected on travel souvenirs is to someextent a result of bargaining and dialogue between business man and tourists,therefore there are some phenomenon of misunderstanding and distorting thetraditional cultures, which are shown on some of souvenirs in the market.The cultural commercialization, a natural process of Chinese minoritiesengaging in the globe commodity economy has a certain necessity. Thedevelopment of tourism souvenirs are not only generating a certain economicresults, but also playing an active role in passing on and preserving thetraditional culture. The traditional culture is not a closed and static system, butneeds continuous creation and development under the premise of protection.Whereas, we are supposed to notice that there is also a phenomenon of“culture distortion” during the process of culture commercialization, and theculture symbols is used at random to some extent. In conclusion, thediscussion concerning the “culture authenticity” is also rising up.