Re-exploring Bailuyuan Folk Village： Why is ＂online celebrity Town＂ ＂Handsome for Three Seconds＂？
Xinhua News Agency, Xi ‘an, May 26th Question: Re-explore Bailuyuan Folk Village: Why is "online celebrity Town" "Handsome for Three Seconds"?
Xinhua News Agency "Xinhua Viewpoint" reporters Jiang Chenrong and Li Yanan
Recently, a "Death List of Characteristic Towns in China" was widely circulated on the Internet, and Bailuyuan Folk Culture Village was among them. This once "online celebrity Town" declined rapidly in recent years, with shops closed and tourists hard to find.
In May 2016, Bailuyuan Folk Culture Village, which claimed to have invested more than 300 million yuan and covered an area of 1,200 mu, opened in Lantian County, Shaanxi Province, and became the "top stream" in the tourism market in Xi ‘an that year with the attitude of "overnight success", with the daily reception of tourists reaching 150,000.
Now, when the reporter walked into Bailuyuan Folk Culture Village again, this closed folk culture village was basically deserted, all the merchants closed down, construction waste piled up in the roadway, and the park was overgrown with weeds.
From "red overnight" to "handsome for three seconds", the lessons of Bailuyuan Folk Culture Village are worth pondering.
The former "online celebrity" scenic spot is now overgrown with weeds.
The Bailuyuan Folk Culture Village Project is invested and operated by Shaanxi Weishui Cultural Industry Investment Co., Ltd. In the scenic area, five or six rows of brick bungalows and other facilities are built according to the characteristics of Guanzhong dwellings and villages, which are used to open folk snack bars, non-legacy workshops, tea culture squares and so on.
Under the blessing of "White Deer Original Fever", the White Deer Original Folk Culture Village, which is only 30 kilometers away from the main city of Xi ‘an, was very popular when it opened. According to public information, it ushered in 120,000 passengers on the opening day; During the 2017 New Year, the number of tourists received daily reached 150,000. On holidays, due to the large passenger flow, there are even long traffic jams around the scenic spot.
However, the good times did not last long. A teahouse operator in the folk culture village said in an interview that in the first year, when the business was at its best, there were 22 employees in the teahouse, including three cashiers alone. But in the second year, the passenger flow decreased obviously, and the business was far less than that in the first year. "This place is a selling point to eat, and it is not necessarily delicious elsewhere. People don’t want to come once or twice." The operator said.
In 2019, according to the statistics of Bailuyuan Management Committee in Lantian County, Bailuyuan Folk Culture Village has less than 1,000 tourists every day, and many businesses are closed down. In August 2019, Bailuyuan Folk Culture Village was closed.
The reporter visited recently, and the former "online celebrity Town" has been basically ruined, some buildings have been demolished, and the whole folk village is almost empty.
According to the staff of Bailuyuan Management Committee in Lantian County, the investment of 350 million yuan in Bailuyuan Folk Culture Village, which was previously rumored on the Internet, was calculated according to the original planning of the third phase. After the investment of 108 million yuan in the first phase, the operators did not see the situation well and did not continue to invest.
The staff of Lantian County Natural Resources and Planning Bureau said that Bailuyuan Folk Culture Village has been transferred to Xi ‘an Lancheng Ideal Town Construction Management Co., Ltd.. The initial planning of the new owner is to build a high-end kangyang cluster on the original site of Bailuyuan Folk Culture Village based on the excellent local natural environment. However, because the land and space planning of Lantian County and the overall planning of Bailuyuan in Xi ‘an are in the process of preparation, the project is currently in a state of suspension.
There are many problems behind the popularity.
Why does a "top flow" scenic spot say that it will die if it dies?
The first "hard injury" is illegal land use. In December 2016, a number of projects, including Bailuyuan Folk Culture Village, were notified at the relevant law enforcement supervision and inspection warning interview held by the Shaanxi Provincial Government due to unauthorized illegal land occupation. The staff of Lantian County Natural Resources and Planning Bureau said that the 498 mu of land planned by Bailuyuan Folk Culture Village was built without approval. After being notified, the local land department dismantled some illegal construction projects, and then in 2017 and 2020, 321 mu of land was approved, and the rest of the land procedures were being processed.
Secondly, there is a lack of planning and homogeneity. With the IP craze of "Bailuyuan", in just two years, six cultural tourism projects, including Bailuyuan Folk Culture Village, Bailuyuan Film and Television City, Bailucang and Bailuyuan Landscape Agriculture Park, have gathered on Bailuyuan, which is only over 200 square kilometers, excluding other similar rural tourism projects.
The cluster of homogeneous projects is inseparable from the blind investment promotion and lack of planning guidance by the local government. Zhang Yan, a researcher at Shaanxi Academy of Social Sciences, said, "How can so many tourism projects be carried on a small white deer plain? This in itself has formed intra-regional competition and dispersed passenger flow, and many cultural tourism projects are doomed to survive. "
In the future operation, the commercialization is serious and the connotation is hollow. Many tourists said that Bailuyuan Folk Culture Village "won’t go again after going once", because there are some tourism products that can be seen everywhere except Guanzhong snacks, and there is nothing new.
Experts said that the Bailuyuan Folk Culture Village can’t see Guanzhong culture and local folk customs, which can’t meet the needs of tourists to "pin their homesickness" and is engaged in the commercial operation of quick success and instant benefit.
Cui Ning, chief planner of Shaanxi Tourism Design Institute, said: "In recent years, there has been an upsurge of cultural tourism construction relying on folk customs and folk customs in various places, and the idea is very simple — — Build an antique street and someone will come naturally. But this is actually ‘ Pat your head ’ Did not consider what the connotation of the project is and where the innovation points to attract passengers are. "
The failure to balance the distribution of interests with merchants and villagers during the implementation of the project is also an important reason for the rapid decline of folk villages.
The land occupied by Bailuyuan Folk Culture Village originally belonged to Tianpo Village, Ancun Town, Lantian County. The villagers here told reporters that some villagers did not agree with the initial land lease and subsequent land acquisition. Due to land occupation and compensation, villagers have repeatedly clashed with folk village operators.
"After the completion of the folk village, the shops in the park are not allowed to be rented by our local villagers, but are rented to foreigners, and only a few villagers apply for jobs such as cleaning." Another villager in Tianpo Village said.
A villager told reporters that there are 10 people in his family. In 2020, he received more than 600,000 yuan in compensation for land acquisition, but the land at home is now less than one point. He and several villagers have repeatedly reported to the petition department of Lantian County, "Our appeal is to either return our land or we will refund the compensation; Either hand out the monthly living expenses in 200 yuan promised to the elderly over 60 at the time of land acquisition — — I am 64 years old this year and have never received it once. "
In this regard, Ancun Village cadres said that the building of Bailuyuan Folk Culture Village was mainly built on the villagers’ old homestead, and the land acquisition involved less than 430 villagers in two groups of Tianpo Village. After the land acquisition, the per capita cultivated land was less than 1 point, so 200 yuan’s land-lost subsidy was paid to the elderly over 60 every month. At present, the plan has been reported to the county and is under study.
The construction of characteristic towns needs both "form" and "soul"
Tourism experts said that in recent years, "cultural tourism fever" has arisen, and many places are keen on attracting cultural tourism projects and creating landscapes everywhere. Many projects do not respect the laws of the market and industry, and they are launched vigorously, and they are miserable and miserable.
"Tourism planning must comprehensively consider the resource endowment in the region and provide scientific guidance for tourism projects." Zhang Yan said, "Good planning must rely on qualified and experienced experts and institutions. After the planning is completed, we must ensure that it is truly implemented."
Secondly, we must highlight the "characteristics" and closely combine the construction of scenic spots with local culture.
"Not all places can be landscaped, not just building an antique street or a scenic spot." Zhang Yan said, "The natural landscape environment and profound cultural accumulation are the best destinations for cultural tourism projects."
Cui Ning said that the development of characteristic towns should follow the laws of the market, and it should come naturally. It is also necessary to differentiate positioning and emphasize one town and one characteristic.
Experts in the industry say that to build a characteristic town, we should have a long-term vision and the boldness to make it a "century-old project" to avoid quick success and excessive commercialization. Many successful characteristic towns at home and abroad have been over a hundred years, and their experience is mainly not to follow the trend and spend money, but to rely on patience and creativity, building one brick and one tile, cultivating one grass and one tree.
Experts reminded that the construction of characteristic towns must focus on both "form" and "soul", and effectively combine the construction of characteristic towns with rural revitalization; Industrial development should set up some mechanisms to protect the interests of villagers, so that local people can really benefit from the development of characteristic towns.