关键词: 旅游发展, 传统村落, 乡村功能演变, 西溪南村

Abstract:

Tourism development is an important path to guide the transformation of rural functions and realize rural revitalization. Taking Xixinan Village, a traditional village in Huangshan City, as an example, the study applied in-depth interviews with government employees, exterior tourism companies, exterior homestay investors, local residents, and tourists to explore the process and evolution mechanism of rural functions from a micro perspective. It was found that the rural function evolution of Xixinan Village has gone through three stages: 1) The budding stage of tourism (2003-2008). The theme development project of ‘Jinpingmei Cultural Park’ was implemented in Xixinan Village, but the benefits and impact of tourism development were not obvious. There was no substantial evolution of rural functions. 2) In the tourism exploration stage (2009-2014), exterior investors purchased and repaired the ancient houses in Xixinan Village. Then they were opened to the tourists. It gave full play to the diversified functions of living, production and consumption of ancient dwellings, and showed the cultural and aesthetic values of Hui-style architecture. Furthermore, the tourism development strategy of Xiesheng Tourism Development Company in Xixinan Ancient Village has failed. 3) In the tourism development stage (2015-), the team of Professor Yu Kongjian from Peking University fully undertook the tourism development and management of the ancient village of Xixinan Village. The rural business has been continuously enriched. Xixinan Village has gradually realized the simplification of agricultural production functions and living functions to cultural protection and inheritance, ecological conservation, leisure and tourism, research and education, and other multi-functional shifts. In general, Xixinan Village has a clear development plan, a rich rural tourism industry, and an increasingly prominent rural multi-functional value system. The functional evolution of Xixinan Village is the certain result of the co-existence of multi-stakeholders such as local government, exterior tourism companies, exterior homestay investors, local residents and tourists. Government policy guidance is the basic guarantee to promote internal and external factor flow and rural multifunctional transformation. Exterior tourism companies are the leading force in promoting the development and operation of Xixinan Village tourism and carrying out various forms of cultural and creative activities. Exterior homestay investors are the key forerunners in constructing rural homestay space, constructing ecological space and leading the practice of local culture civilization. Local residents are vital practitioners who use their own resources to fill market segments and realize home-employment coordination. The cooperation and symbiosis among various stakeholders promote the development and evolution of the rural functions of Xixinan Village. From the perspective of rural function evolution, this study reveals the logic behind the return of villagers, capital and citizens to the countryside to build villages in Xixinan Village, and provides a realistic template and case reference for the transformation and development of Huizhou traditional villages.

Key words: tourism development, traditional villages, evolution of rural functions, Xixinan Village