Abstract:This article investigates China’s heritage development from an evolutionary perspective. On the one hand, by situating the reception of the cultural heritage concept in a socio-cultural construct dimension, it reveals the unique dialogism between the two divergent epistemological paradigms of wenwu (cultural relics) and wenhua yichan (cultural heritage) that underline heritage appropriation and practice in China. On the other hand, it examines China’s cultural heritage development in relation to society, arguing that considerations of national heritage, though influenced by the international environment, are still largely determined by its national socio-cultural, economic, and political settings. The evolutionary approach reveals the way in which China’s heritage vision and practice are negotiated according to international forces and societal imperatives, implicating issues such as commodification and reconstruction in the debate of heritage conservation, which is relevant to, among others, the research on heritage tourism and urban development in contemporary China.

The People's Republic of China has experienced great economic, political and socio-cultural changes since its founding in 1949, which in turn have considerably impacted every aspect of the Chinese society. Adopting a regime perspective, the paper discusses China's tourism development against these backdrops, with an aim to disentangle the relation between tourism development and the broader context. In the light of the heritage-tourism-urban development strategy today, a special attention is given to tourism's (non)interaction with heritage and urban development, to examine the impact of the (lack of) internal dynamics on their development paths. In its attempt to answer the questions of 'why' and 'what' in China's tourism development, the paper aims to provide a panoramic view of the topic and the unique dialogism among tourism development, heritage conservation and urban development that underlines the appropriation and practice of tourism and heritage in contemporary China.

The People's Republic of China has experienced great economic, political and socio-cultural changes since its founding in 1949, which in turn have considerably impacted every aspect of the Chinese society. Adopting a regime perspective, the paper discusses China's tourism development against these backdrops, with an aim to disentangle the relation between tourism development and the broader context. In the light of the heritage-tourism-urban development strategy today, a special attention is given to tourism's (non)interaction with heritage and urban development, to examine the impact of the (lack of) internal dynamics on their development paths. In its attempt to answer the questions of 'why' and 'what' in China's tourism development, the paper aims to provide a panoramic view of the topic and the unique dialogism among tourism development, heritage conservation and urban development that underlines the appropriation and practice of tourism and heritage in contemporary China.