Why are so many cultural heritage sites in China fake? Why is the architecture all the same? And why does no one care that all these old towns were built in the past 20 years? Let's take a deep dive into the history of the cultural heritage industry in China, the role of the CCP party-state, the agency of local actors, and try and figure out why Chinese tourists love fake reconstructions of mini European villages in the middle of their megacities.

*Diary of the visit to Furong was in 2022 not 2002!!

#China #culturalheritage #unesco #culturalrevolution #chinesehistory #chinatourism

Chapters 
(00:00) Introduction 
(03:45) Attitudes to cultural heritage around the world
(06:45) The destruction of China's cultural heritage 
(11:11) Reasons for rebuilding China's cultural heritage sites
(12:38) Defining authenticity
(17:00) Examples of Disney-fied heritage sites
(40:25) What tourists want
(44:45) Does authenticity matter?

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