In 2001, the Chinese government officially recognized Zhongdian County in Yunnan Province as Shangri-La, which is a fictional concept that signifies paradise introduced by the British author James...Show moreIn 2001, the Chinese government officially recognized Zhongdian County in Yunnan Province as Shangri-La, which is a fictional concept that signifies paradise introduced by the British author James Hilton (1933). Ever since the region has been renamed, some visitors have started to express that Shangri-La County has transformed into a theme park and has lost its authenticity. The current essay explored, by using Bryman’s (2004) theory of Disneyization as a framework, whether it can be said that the name change into Shangri-La has changed the region into a theme park. The resources of this research were scholarly literature, travel blogs and TripAdvisor reviews about Shangri-La. Of the four principles mentioned in Disneyization, that all describe a trend common to a theme park, the principles of theming, hybrid consumption and merchandising were all found to be take place in the Shangri-La region. Only performative labor, as defined in the theory, was considerably less present in Shangri-La County. However, in regard to how Chinese theme parks (like Yunnan Ethnic Folk Village) function, such as the lack of smiling service, the principle of performative labor may still apply to Shangri-La. Thus, the result indicates that Shangri-La is comparable to a theme park and that how the theory of Disneyization is defined currently has no universal validity because it takes no cultural differences in account. Furthermore, in view of Jean Baudrillard’s (1994) account of postmodernism, Shangri-La is similar to a theme park in that they both create a hyper-reality in which a highly similar but ‘unreal’ reality is experienced by visitors through the processes of simulation or simulacrum. In this sense, the Shangri-La narrative has bestowed a frame by which tourists started to percept and experience the region’s authenticity. However, considering that Western tourists are predominantly the ones seeking authenticity in Shangri-La – may it be an authentic setting or an authentic self – it is their confrontation with the touristic environments like Dukezong that sways them to evaluate the region as a theme park. The voices of the local population and Chinese tourists were not brought into account in the current research; future research should therefore explore deeper how these groups’ experience the changes in Shangri-La County.Show less
In this thesis, I discuss about the existence of an art theory in current Chinese policies to answer the main research question: what is Xi’s art theory and how does the Communist Chinese Party ...Show moreIn this thesis, I discuss about the existence of an art theory in current Chinese policies to answer the main research question: what is Xi’s art theory and how does the Communist Chinese Party (CCP) conceive of arts and literature (wenyi文艺)? Since arts and literature have been called upon to support and accelerate the achievement of the country’s goals, I will analyze the current Chinese situation from the perspective of art. Moreover, I will suggest that the formulation of an art theory by Xi, during the Beijing Forum on Literature and Art in 2014 , might be referring to the past to stress the element of continuity as legitimacy for the CCP’s rule and relevance.Show less
The China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (CSPFTZ) has been established on September 29th 2013 in Shanghai. Shanghai has been the center of many historical events. In the 19th century, Shanghai...Show moreThe China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (CSPFTZ) has been established on September 29th 2013 in Shanghai. Shanghai has been the center of many historical events. In the 19th century, Shanghai was opened up to the outside world and forced to outside trade relations due to the Nanking Treaty of 1842 after the First Opium War (1839-1842) and was selected as a new port: the ‘Shanghai International Settlement’. The British, American and French settled in Shanghai and after 100 years Shanghai developed as the largest foreign trade port in China. Meanwhile, during the first Sino-Japanese War of 1895, China was mauled by a strong, Western influenced Japan. Attempts to reform China into a modern nation failed but after the 1911 Revolution, Shanghai emerged as a center of modern activities. The population doubled between 1895 and 1910 from 245,675 to 501,541 people as many Chinese were attracted by the city. During World War I (1914-1918) many people left while the diminished supply of Chinese export goods led to a higher demand of these export goods. Especially in the 1920s and 1930s, Shanghai grew as many silk filatures, cotton mills, and chemical works emerged. In the 1930s, Shanghai’s Port served as the main shipping center in the Far East; the city was seen as a cosmopolitan city. However, in 1937 Japan bombed Shanghai and occupied parts of China again, which lasted until 1945. People lived under brutal circumstances under the occupation of Japan and the conditions to develop into a cosmopolitan city moved from Shanghai to Hong Kong. In 1949, the CCP, led by Mao Zedong, took power and focused on rural regions resulting in neglected cities; the nation controlled Shanghai and the city was forced to dispose of its cosmopolitan life. However, when Mao Zedong died in 1976, the balance of power changed: Hua Guofeng established the ‘Open Door’ policy in 1977 before Deng Xiaoping returned to power in 1978. The new policy led to the beginning of its modernization process and several Special Economic Zones (SEZs) were established mainly to attract foreign direct investment. Since the opening up until 1997, China attracted billions of foreign investment (US dollars) and by the mid-1990s, the economy moved away from a command economy to a functioning market economy. After 1978, China’s modernization process took off really quickly and created a gap between South China including its coastal regions and North-East China as the South and its coastal areas are developing much faster. Therefore, China can be divided into two different phases of modernization according to Rostow’s Five-Stages of Growth (1960). The South and its coastal regions can be assigned to the final phase of modernization while the North-East part of China can be assigned to phase three. The SEZs which have been established since 1978 are particular geographic regions in countries used to encourage export services, industry, and manufacturing. In China, initially four SEZs were established in Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Xiamen and Shantou to test the new policies and new institutions for the market-oriented economy in order to improve China’s economy. The role SEZs, and especially Shenzhen, played in China’s modernization process was quite apparent as average annual growth has been 9.4 percent since the 1980s: the SEZs boost China’s economy and moved towards a more technology-intensive and higher-value economy. 34 years later, on 29th September 2013, a new SEZ was established in Pudong, Shanghai: the CSPFTZ. The CSPFTZ has been established to enhance China’s economic position globally and to develop a new, replicable financial and administrative system which can be implemented in every region of the country. Nevertheless, the privileged status of ‘special’ is diminished since there are already many SEZs in China. However, as analysis shows, the zone operates differently from the majority of the SEZs which enables the CSPFTZ to offer enough advantages to attract foreign investors to be successful. The chances of success nonetheless depend on the government. The government encourages so many aspects and is experimenting with so many measures that the chance of success is questioned. But, if the government is able to achieve its aims, the CSPFTZ can be successful and could contribute to China’s South and coastal regions’ modernization process as the leading sectors shift towards more durable consumer goods and services in Rostow’s final phase.Show less
