28 CHINESE SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY

Chinese Sociology and Anthropology, vol. 39, no. 3, Spring 2007, pp. 28–49.
© 2007 M.E. Sharpe, Inc. All rights reserved.
ISSN 0009–4625 / 2007 $9.50 + 0.00.
DOI 10.2753/CSA0009-4625390302

SUN JIUXIA AND BAO JIGANG

Anthropological Tourism Analysis on

Community Participation
The Case Study of Dai Village in Xishuangbanna

Academic circles in China have generally accepted tourism development as a driv-

ing force in local economies and regard it as an effective way for the minority
nationality regions to pull themselves out of poverty. They call for the protection
of traditional culture and advocate the approach of “development in protection
and protection in development.” Therefore, the focus and major topics of the an-
thropological study of tourism in China lie in tourism development (Cui 2001; Ma
Chongwei 2001; Ma Xiaojing 1999; and Huang 1999), cultural protection (Duan
2001; Liu 2001), and the elimination of poverty through tourism (Zhou 2002), as
well as the provision of policy-making services to the government and related
departments.
Tourism development is outpacing the research by scholars. There is an imbal-
ance in the progress of various fields of tourism anthropology at large, and re-
search in China is still at an initial stage of its development. As a result, there is
little anthropological research on community resident participation in China. Tour-
ism activities are normally dependent upon communities. In the course of tourism
development, community residents have a full understanding of the tourist value

Translation © 2007 M.E. Sharpe, Inc., from the Chinese text: Sun Jiuxia and Bao Jigang,
“Shequ canyu de lüyou renlei xue yanjiu: yi Xishuangbanna Dai zu yuan an li,” Guangxi
minzu xueyuan xuebao (Journal of Guangxi University for Nationalities), vol. 26, no. 6
(November 2004), pp. 128–36. Translated by Huiping Iler.
Sun Jiuxia is a member of the School of Tourism Management, School of Geography
and Planning, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, China; tel.: 86-20-8411-2848;
fax: 86-20-8332-5899; e-mail: sjxia@21en.com. Bao Jigang is a native of Gejiu, Yunnan
province. He is a professor at the School of Tourism Management, School of Geography
and Planning, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China; tel.: 86-20-8411-3082;
fax: 86-20-8411-3621; e-mail: eesbjg@mail.sysu.edu.cn.

28
 SPRING 2007 29

of their local resources and expect to benefit from tourism. Their awareness of
participation in tourism is also becoming greater. At present, there is not much
advance coordination of community interests. This results in conflicts of interest
between community residents and developers (Bao and Sun 2003). The current
study takes Dai village in Xishuangbanna as an example. Through anthropologi-
cal methodology such as participant observation and in-depth interviews coupled
with surveys and literature, the present article provides an in-depth analysis of the
current situation of community participation at Dai village.

Overview of Dai Village

Dai village tourist attraction is located at the seat of Menghan town government
twenty-seven kilometers away from Jinghong with a total site area of 336 hect-
ares. It lies between the Lancang river to the south and Longde Lake to the north.
The main attraction comprises well-protected natural villages of the Dai national-
ity, namely Manjiang, Manchunman, Manzha, Mange, and Manting. It is a tourist
attraction that features displays of Dai religion, history, culture, customs, architec-
ture, costumes, and cuisine at Xishuangbanna, and combines natural and cultural
landscape. Dai village opened for business on August 1, 1999, and was rated as a
national AAAA-class tourist destination in 2001. From the start of business to
2003, the village received more than 1.3 million tourist visitors, both domestic and
foreign, and earned RMB19.83 million from tourism. Tourists to Dai village mainly
come in groups and there has been a gradual increase in the number of individual
tourists every year. Dai Village Company now has ten departments, including at-
traction management, environment, engineering, arts and performance, tour guides,
and nationality affairs, and has a total staff of 249 (Cui 2001).
At Dai village, some complete living quarters and some partial living quarters
in the five natural villages are incorporated into tourist attractions. The attractions
are set up based on communities so that there is integration between the attractions
and communities. Community life is a major feature of the tourist attraction. Dai
religion, ethnic culture, habits, customs, and the stilt-architectural style are impor-
tant components of the landscape. Production and life in the village communities
also form part of the tourist activity and display. The five villages are under the
administrative jurisdiction of the Manting village neighborhood committee of
Menghan town, and had 314 households and 1,487 people in 2002. Among the
population at that time, 1,476 people or 99.26 percent were of Dai nationality and
eleven people or 0.74 percent were of Han nationality. Paddy fields covered an
area of 3,049 mu (2.05 mu per capita), the area of dry land was 810 mu (0.54 mu
per capita), and the area covered by rubber fields was 1,479 mu (0.99 mu per
capita). The net income per capita in this year was RMB2,315—higher than
RMB2,051 for the town as a whole. This is a relatively well-off village in Menghan
town.
30 CHINESE SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY

Current Situation of Tourism Participation at Dai Village

Community

The integration of tourist attraction and community inevitably involves commu-

nity residents in tourism operation activities. Tourism has become a part of life for
community residents. At present, community participation in tourism is essen-
tially economic, or consists in the acquisition of economic benefits from tourism.
The major sources of tourist income for the Dai village community are Dai houses,
Dai restaurants and accommodation, fruit sales, barbecue stands, clothes sales,
other handicraft sales, employment with companies, and land leasing. There are
three typical forms of participation: Dai houses, Dai restaurants and accommoda-
tion, and company employment.

Dai Houses at Manchunman

Origin of Dai Houses

The Dai houses that people of the Dai nationality operate began with the arrival of
Han people from outside. Around 1994, the villagers started investing in tourism.
Their Manchunman Old Buddha Temple attracted quite a few tourists. The arrival
of tourists caused outsiders to be more involved in the operation of community
tourism. Business people of Han nationality from Sichuan, Jiangxi, and Guangxi
started renting Dai houses in which to sell tourism crafts featuring fake sandy gold
and sandy silver. They attracted drivers and tour guides with high commissions so
that they would bring tourists over. In 2002, the Dai Village Company joined its
industrial and commercial department and tourism department to abolish outside
sandy gold and sandy silver operators and drive them out of Dai village. This
abolition by the company and related departments provided the Dai people with
an excellent basis for operating the business.
After the outsiders were gone, residents in the village became enthusiastic about
the business operation for the first time. Many families started Dai house busi-
nesses one after another, and more families planned to do the same. In order to
minimize conflicts and disputes, some senior citizens in Manchunman village1
and the village neighborhood committee joined together in April 2002, dividing
the 108 families in the village and the ten involved families from the neighboring
village of Manzha into two groups (Ma Chongwei 2001). The two groups would
take turns every other day to receive tourists—say, Group 1 on days one, three, and
five of the month, and Group 2 for days two, four, and six. By June, due to the
number of people and tasks involved, there were still continuous disputes and the
management was rather chaotic. A few people from each group took the initiative
to further divide the groups. As a result, each of the two groups was subdivided
into A and B. When it was one group’s turn, A would have the first busload of
tourists and B would have the second. In this way, the Dai houses survived in Dai
 SPRING 2007 31

village and the main business was selling fake sandy gold and sandy silver inside
the Dai houses. The company tacitly approved this mode of operation and granted
them nameplates that read “Site of Visit at Dai Residence.” The condition for such
tacit approval was that there be no complaint from tourists and that tour guides at
the tourist attraction should specifically mention to tourists that the products were
crafts, not real sandy gold or sandy silver.

Operation of Dai Houses

With two large groups and four smaller groups taking turns receiving tourists, the
business was in better order. Each small group was independent as to both busi-
ness operation and profit-sharing and the number was limited to about thirty house-
holds (actually, from thirty-one to twenty-eight). Each household had to select one
representative, most of whom were females with no specific age limit, but most of
them were under fifty.
Every morning, the on-duty women would get up very early and dress them-
selves nicely for a day’s work. Within each group there was a basic division of
labor. At about 8:30 in the morning, prior to the arrival of the tour groups, those
responsible for ushering the buses would wait at the parking lot of the tourist
attraction. Once the tourists got off the buses to enter the village gate, the group
tour guide (external guide) would hand over the tourists to the interpreter of the
tourist attraction (internal guide). The ushers would quietly lead the internal guide
and the group to the responsible household, where people downstairs would im-
mediately notify the reception people upstairs. The tourists would go upstairs and
the interpreter would start the interpretation and sales. After the tourists left, the
interpreter would submit the payment for products sold to the finance team. Other
members would clean up the living rooms and wash tea cups to get ready for the
next group of tourists. The village inspection and patrol staff also played an impor-
tant role. The inspectors were mainly responsible for preventing the vendors around
Manchunman Buddhist Temple from selling the same products as those being sold
upstairs in the houses. If they could not stop the vendors, they would be notified of
the transaction price after a deal was made. They would then tell the vendors not to
sell at a lower price so that tourists would not go back for refunds (“jumping the
wall” in their jargon) after finding out about the different prices. The patrol was
mainly responsible for checking the number of people allowed to go upstairs and
clearing people of dubious background. If any suspicious characters were identi-
fied, the interpreters would alter their sales approach accordingly. At the same
time, they were also very cautious about the Department of Tourism’s anti-coun-
terfeiting campaign and exposure by reporters and oversaw the tour guides’ expla-
nations to tourists. If tour guides told tourists that everything was fake, they would
call it “laying bare” and would blame the tour guides afterward. Out of a sense of
responsibility, the tour guides at the tourist attraction would normally tell the tour-
ists that they were seeing crafts. At noon the Dai house operators would go home
32 CHINESE SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY

for lunch and only two people would stay behind on duty. Business resumed
before 2:00 in the afternoon until 6:00 P.M. when all the tour groups were gone.
The operators would get together to balance the accounts and then go home with
the money earned for the day. The next day they would be off duty. Some of
them would tap rubber and some would sell fruit. This was their life, day in and
day out.

Sales Process

Although thirty people are involved in the division of labor, only interpreters work
directly in front of the tourists. From the moment they enter the tourist attraction,
the tourists see only the tour guides and hear their introduction to the site. Most of
the Dai house operators are invisible. It is not until they go upstairs that the inter-
preters show up—the only point of contact for tourists. But it is precisely through
the interpreters that the other members receive their incomes. Yuwen and Yujin are
responsible for two small groups at Manchunman Dai house. They belong to one
large group, which means they receive tourists on the same day. In Yuwen’s group
there are seven interpreters, and Yujin has three. Their reception takes place simul-
taneously with six to seven families of the group members. There are not enough
interpreters for Yujin’s group, so they hire some from the other big group that is
responsible for the operation of the Dai houses the next day. Because interpreters
shoulder special responsibilities and play the most critical role, there are relatively
high requirements concerning their qualifications. They are required to speak flu-
ent Mandarin and must have at least graduated from junior high school. They must
also be flexible and smart, young and presentable in appearance.
The internal tour guide leads the tourists upstairs and their introduction stops
when the tourists step into the living room. The interpreter is waiting in the living
room and tourists sit around her. She asks about the number of tourists in the
group and where each one of them comes from. At the same time she hands each
tourist a cup of rice tea. Then she gives a brief introductory talk about the nation-
ality culture and starts selling sandy gold and sandy silver.
The introductions to the Dai houses for tourists are pretty much identical most
of the time. There are two origins for these introductions: the internal tour guide
and the previous outside Han people. The sales approach is the same as that used
by the Han people. The operators also gradually learn how to use some sales tech-
niques in the course of product marketing. They call crafts of better quality pure
silver. Those of poor quality, they call sandy gold or sandy silver so that tourists
can make their own choice. They also exaggerate and make up pseudo-customs.
For example, they tell tourists that the Dai like men who wear glasses and that
climbing the betel palm tree may help reduce physical labor. They also state that
“the rice tea that we just offered you is picked by unmarried girls. The tea picked
by married girls is not useable.” This easily arouses the tourists’ interest. The well-
meaning jokes that the unsophisticated Dai girls tell also help lighten the atmo-
 SPRING 2007 33

sphere and dispel tourists’ vigilance to some extent. In introducing marriage

customs, they build in certain foreshadowing for sandy gold and sandy silver. Some
families may even display photos taken when state leaders came to visit. This may
earn the trust of the tourists and retain the attention of those who are not interested
in crafts. The duration of stay for the entire group is thus prolonged.
As a matter of fact, this is a performance put on for tourists by all members
involved in the operation of Dai houses. The interpreter is the actor, who explains
the customs to all, just as on a stage. She assumes a “tourism” identity. The ulti-
mate purpose of the performance is to attract tourists to actively purchase things.
In front of the tourists, the interpreters will claim that the reception house is theirs,
the middle-aged women outside are their mothers, and that the sandy gold and
sandy silver being sold are panned from the Lancang river and handmade by the
elders. If they need to communicate with each other, they turn to the Dai dialect
and sound to tourists as though they are chatting. The whole sales process nor-
mally lasts fifteen to twenty-five minutes.

Settlement and Distribution of Income

The capital for the merchandize comes from each family. The products are all
made in other places and there are wholesalers at Ganlan Dam. The channels for
replenishing the stock are pretty smooth. People can order products over the tele-
phone and products can be delivered to the door. They settle the accounts and
distribute the income every day. The total daily income is total sales revenue mi-
nus costs, commissions for tour guides (30 percent for external guides and 2 to 3
percent for internal guides), parking fees for drivers (RMB21), commissions for
interpreters (3 or 10 percent), and tea costs for receiving households (RMB20–
30). The total income is evenly distributed among all the members. Among all
these amounts, costs are the lowest, and the highest are the commissions for tour
guides. These are calculated according to the percentage of total consumption
from the groups. External tour guides play an important role in whether or not
tourists go upstairs, how long they stay, and whether or not they buy anything.
Therefore, they enjoy very high commissions. The women operating the Dai houses
generally agree to this arrangement and pay the commissions according to a per-
centage. They are also afraid that the avenues for making money would be af-
fected if the external tour guides found out about the real sales volume from tourists.
In contrast to external tour guides, internal guides have limited commissions. For
a sale of between RMB100 and RMB200, they would normally get a RMB5 com-
mission. They would like to have more, but it is very difficult. In addition, the
tourist attraction requires that the internal tour guides tell the tourists that the prod-
ucts are crafts, which is what the Dai house operators hate. The parking fees for
drivers take the form of two packs of cigarettes worth RMB21, presented to the
drivers by the parking lot attendants. The interpreters earn not just the average
income of the group, but also a special commission for interpretation which is 3
34 CHINESE SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY

percent of the sales of the day. For example, if the average income of the group is
RMB100 and sales volume of the day is RMB3,000, the interpreter earns a total
income of RMB190 for that day. Interpreters hired from outside are paid even
higher commissions, at 10 percent of the sales volume, but they will not earn the
average income of the group. The tea costs are paid to the households that contrib-
ute Dai houses to receive tourists, at RMB20 to RMB30 per day.
The organized sharing of the tourists and enhanced local tourism management
actually garner lower profits for the Dai people than those that the Han people
previously earned. Yet even though the profit margins are lower than before, there
are still higher profits here than in other industries.

Fun Time with a Dai Family at Manzha

Development and Current Situation

Tourism in Manzha does not seem to have started as early as in Manchunman.

There was virtually no awareness of tourism prior to 1999 and every family was
busy with farm work. In 1999 when Dai village officially opened to a large influx
of tourists, a few people with good foresight realized the potential business oppor-
tunities. They started making “rural-flavor meals” during the slack farming season
and busy tourism season. Later they were also involved in the accommodation
business. The local people call this tourist reception “Fun Time with a Dai Fam-
ily.” At that time there were only two or three families operating this business and
they normally waited for the tourists. Starting in 2003, the company encouraged
villagers to participate in this form of tourism and, in order to balance interests,
designated Manzha village as mainly responsible for the Fun Time with a Dai
Family business.
As a matter of fact, Manzha has a solid foundation for operating the business.
Manzha is called the “chef village.” Although a small village with only forty-eight
households, the village is pretty famous among the local people. Led by a few
initiators, by September 2002 the villagers had become very enthusiastic about
operating the Fun Time with a Dai Family business. They divided themselves into
two groups and started a joint operation. One woman from each family would get
together at one household for the reception. Aiguang household was one group
consisting of seventeen families, and Aixiang household was another group con-
sisting of fifteen families. By 2003, there were basically two groups at Manzha
village and two-thirds of the families in the village were participating in the busi-
ness. The person responsible in the Aiguang group was mainly Aiguang’s wife,
Mihaguang. The other members of the group were also married women between
the age of twenty-four and forty-five. Because his wife was somewhat introverted,
Aixiang also participated in the management of the group, but did not step out to
the front. It was mainly managed by the women themselves. At the beginning of
the operation, each family contributed capital of several hundred renminbi for the
 SPRING 2007 35

purchase of utensils such as woks and bowls, as well as the audio devices used
during performances for tourists. The sharing of revenues is based on equal and
even distribution after costs. Since the host family would pick up water and power
costs, they would have a bigger share. The host families are normally nicely lo-
cated close to the tour routes. The division of groups was based on voluntary prin-
ciples and the groups were mostly formed by relatives.
The Aixiang group started to split up in 2003. By the end of the year there were
only five families remaining in the joint operation. Mihaguang’s group was differ-
ent, with one more family added in 2003 to make a total of eighteen. They were
still busy and business was still prosperous. By the time of the Spring Festival of
2004, the Fun Time with a Dai Family business that Mihaguang led underwent a
minor split-up. Yutao left the group to operate her own business. The spin-off of
her family was due to her new house being completed. In addition, in order to
open for business before the “Golden Week” holiday, they did not follow Dai cus-
tom and “held the house-warming event2 during a month that the Dai people con-
sider to be bad.” For the reception of tourists, Yutao’s house was specially divided
into four or five single rooms. Traditionally, the Dai people would put up their
guests in the living room which has no partition. After the Fun Time with a Dai
Family business began to flourish, quite a few families had guest rooms (mainly
two single rooms) just outside the living room in order to meet the needs of the
tourists. When there were too many tourists, they also put the living room to use.
The new house that Yutao had built included more small rooms suitable for tourists
and the area of the living room became smaller. Yutao’s mode of operation was
also different from Mihaguang’s. She was the owner and hired some relatives from
other villages, paying each one RMB300 to RMB500 per month.
The company started managing the Fun Time with a Dai Family business using
a nameplate-hanging system in 2002. The operators have to submit an application.
After inspecting the bamboo houses and hygienic facilities, the company may ap-
prove the application and allow them to put up a nameplate to run their business.
The nameplate reads “Fun Time at Dai House.” The seventeen households that
Mihaguang manages and the five households that Aixiang manages would each be
considered one family and be issued one nameplate. Here the word “family” is
regarded as an operational unit. At present there are altogether eighteen families
that have put up their nameplates to run Fun Time with a Dai Family businesses.
Specifically they are: four at Manchunman, one at Manting, one at Mange, two at
Manjiang, and ten at Manzha. Manzha has the highest participation.

Reception

So far the reception at Fun Time with a Dai Family mainly takes the form of meals.
Because the itinerary for tour groups includes less than a two-hour stay at Dai
village, hardly any group dines at Fun Time with a Dai Family. Only occasionally
will external tour guides bring some small groups of individual tourists here. How-
36 CHINESE SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY

ever, such groups always visit Manchunman as their destination instead of Manzha
so the main target group for Manzha consists of individual tourists, both local and
outside. I asked Mihaguang to record the reception situation at her family from
October 8 to November 31, 20033 (see Table 1 for her record).
According to Table 1, the total number of tourists received during the time
frame was 1,360, of whom 846 or 62.2 percent were outsiders and 514 or 37.8
percent were locals. The average spent by the locals was RMB13.9 while the out-
siders spent an average of RMB14.2. The very small difference shows that the
operators of Fun Time with a Dai Family are fair and square and do not overcharge
outsiders.
The local tourists came mainly from within Xishuangbanna prefecture. Apart
from those who came for holiday leisure activities, the locals also included visitors
to Dai village and fellow residents from the town and village. Quite a few were
attending business receptions by government departments at the prefecture, mu-
nicipality, and town levels; others were attending a reception by Ganlan Dam Farm,
or Dai village’s reception for government and media, or other receptions of out-
side guests by large-scale enterprises and companies within the prefecture. This
type of consumer accounted for as many as 60 percent of the visitors.
There were also close to 40 percent from outside the prefecture. These were
mainly divided into three categories: outside the prefecture but within Yunnan
province; outside Yunnan province; and overseas. Among the outsiders the major-
ity were tourists from within the province, accounting for 65 percent or close to
two-thirds of all outsiders. People from Kunming formed the largest group.
Tourists from outside the province accounted for 26.5 percent of the outsiders.
There were also some foreign tourists, about 8.5 percent of the outside tourists.
The outsiders who visited Fun Time with a Dai Family mainly came in their own
cars.
The average consumption of the guests was rather low. Even among foreign
tourists, the average consumption was only RMB15.2 and the lowest occurred
among the locals at only RMB13.9. The difference between the highest and the
lowest was only RMB1.3. Therefore, the income from Fun Time with a Dai Fam-
ily was also modest. For the total of fifty-four days (including eleven days of
nonoperation) from October 8 to November 30, their total operation revenues were
RMB19,060 with 70 percent of net income (pretty high). The net income was
divided among eighteen families and each person had no more than RMB700.
This was their income for almost two months and the daily average income per
person was less than RMB14. Maybe their average income was slightly higher, but
not everybody was working full time. They would have asked for leave if there
was something to deal with at home. Their rather low income might have been a
result of the upcoming slack season. The following remarks by Mihaguang con-
firm this analysis4: “On average our monthly income is normally at RMB700–800.
Sometimes it may reach RMB1,000. The Golden Week is the best time and would
earn us RMB1,000 just for that time period. February and March are a bit slow
 SPRING 2007 37

Table 1

Survey of Reception at Fun Time with a Dai Family

Means of Arrival
Consumption
Number Consumption per person Self Ushered Invited
Origin (persons) (RMB) (RMB) no. % no. % no. %

Local 846 11,750 13.9 735 86.8 113 13.4 0 0

Outsider 514 7,310 14.2 111 21.6 294 57.2 109 21.2

with only RMB600. The slowest are November and December when we can only
get about RMB400.”
The cooperative group is the largest among those operating Fun Time with a
Dai Family. Other smaller operations have had much higher incomes, but that is
also the reason why they split up. For this particular group, what they enjoy most
is the happiness and fun of working together. When not so busy, they can play
cards, chat, and knit. Mihaguang said:
There is always argument within other groups. We have been working together
for two years and nobody wants to leave. Everybody feels very easy and com-
fortable here. We can do housework and tap rubber. The reason nobody wants to
leave is that they don’t want to think too much and would rather depend on
others. Dai people like equal and fair sharing and are not happy if the accounts
are not in order. I also feel weary and strained. They are all relatives, so you have
to leave some leeway in whatever you say. I don’t know how long this is going to
last. Let’s wait and see. Anyway, we have a monthly income of RMB400 to
RMB500.
They themselves are not even sure, so no one can predict how much longer they
are going to continue to cooperate.

Complaints and Worries

What the workers get are not just money and happiness, but also worry and con-
cern. In the beginning when there were two big groups, disputes over tourists
occurred from time to time. There was even a poisoning incident that took place as
a result of personal spite. The chickens at Mihaguang’s were killed by rat poison.
As group leader at Manzha village, Aihua spent a lot of time coordinating and
often brought the two groups together to communicate with each other. Aihua said
that “the two groups are in constant conflict and there are issues to deal with every
single day.” Aihua did not agree to the centralized mode of operation in the begin-
ning. Through coordination and self-discipline, the relations among the various
groups are now becoming more harmonious. Mihaguang says that she often tells
young people not to inquire about the tourists that others are talking with, let alone
38 CHINESE SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY

grab clients from others. If they have too many tourists to handle, some groups
will also refer them to other groups. They are gradually adopting a take-it-easy
attitude toward competition and cooperation.
Now the women running Fun Time with a Dai Family at Manzha have a new
worry. At present their biggest concern is expansion. There are more and more
people among the Dai village communities participating in the Fun Time with a
Dai Family business, especially Manting village, which had previously focused on
farm work. In order to successfully participate in the business, many villagers
started renovating their houses. During one Dai year (from the Water Sprinkling
Festival in April 2003 to the Water Sprinkling Festival in April 2004), more than
twenty new houses were built, including ten at Manchunman, four at Manzha, and
six at Manting. As seven new houses were built the previous year, this growth was
very rapid. The newly opened Fun Time with a Dai Family businesses neither put
up their nameplates nor pay any management fees. They just go to the parking lot
to get tourists. The business operators at Manzha are very worried about this: “The
company promised that we would be the only village operating the business, but
now every village is participating. It is more and more chaotic. I don’t know what
it will be like in the future.”

Employment by the Company

Hiring of Villagers by the Company

Since the business started, the Dai village Company has hired quite a few villag-
ers. By October 2003, eighty-three of the total 249 staff members had been hired
from the five villages, accounting for one-third of the total number of employees.
The figures from the company are even higher than this because they include mem-
bers of the village coordination groups from the village neighborhood committee
and village groups. The reason for such inclusion is that the company gives them
a certain subsidy every month. For company employees from the villages, the
monthly income is normally between RMB400 and RMB600 and about RMB1,000
during busy seasons. Tour guides earn more because of high commissions. Some
folk artists who participate in the demonstration of folk customs take home the
income from selling the products. Therefore their wage from the company is a bit
low, normally RMB150.
There are differences in the numbers of villagers that are hired by various de-
partments. Table 2 shows that the percentage of villagers with the environmental
department is the highest, at more than half. These villagers are mainly respon-
sible for labor-intensive jobs such as janitorial and landscape work. Also high in
percentage is the number of villagers hired by the arts and performance depart-
ment, at more than 40 percent of the total number of employees in the department.
This has something to do with the fact that the arts and performance department
employs a lot of folk artists. The absolute number of village performers is not
 SPRING 2007 39

high. In the landscape management department, almost 30 percent of the employ-

ees are hired from the villages. This is due to the fact that the landscape manage-
ment department often has to coordinate among villagers and require someone
from a particular village to intervene. The office hires the least number of people
from villages, because this is the “state organ” of the company and only one vil-
lager got in. Among all departments, none of the villagers got into management.
They are all involved in low-end jobs. This has to do with the generally low level
of education of the villagers.

Distribution of Villages Among Employees from Villages

The number of villagers hired by the company from the five villages also varies
(see Table 3 for detailed information). Manchunman contributes most villagers to
the company, at more than half the total. Of course, it is the largest village with the
largest population. The second-largest village, Manting, however, contributes the
least number of villagers to the company. Generally speaking, the reason why
someone can obtain employment in the company is because their land is used by
the company. According to the contract, the company needs to arrange employ-
ment for one member of the family whose land is being used.

Comparative Analysis of Three Participation Forms

Differences in Host-Guest Interactions at Dai Houses and Fun Time

with a Dai Family

When asked about their impressions of the tourists, the Dai house operators nor-
mally comment that they are very friendly and like buying stuff. They also stress
that the tourists buy things voluntarily. There is not much contact afterward, so
their relationship with the tourists is to a great extent a one-time economic interac-
tion. They actually do not want them to come back or recognize them later on. In
the course of going upstairs and downstairs, the hosts have no idea who they are
receiving and the guests have no idea whose household they are visiting. Both
parties are anonymous.
During the interactions, the hosts need to keep some distance from the guests.
Under these circumstances, relations between the two parties are dull and at
times not even friendly. For example, tourists who buy sandy gold and sandy
silver inevitably criticize the Dai people. The group tourists at Dai houses were
asked the question “Are you likely to revisit Dai village within the next two
years?” Their replies were: “Definitely” (25 percent); “Not sure” (47.5 percent);
and “No” (27.5 percent) (see Table 4). The replies do not necessarily predict any
actual revisit tourists may make, but rather indicate their future wishes based on
current impressions.
40 CHINESE SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY

Table 2

Distribution of Villagers in Company Departments

Total number Number Percentage of villagers

Department of workers of villagers among total

Office 34 1 2.9
Landscape management 56 17 30.4
Environment 48 27 56.3
Tour guide 43 10 23.3
Arts and performance 68 28 41.2
Total 249 83 33.3

Source: “Employee Register of Dai village Company,” October 2003.

Table 3

Distribution of Village Employees

Total
Village Number Percentage population Percentage

Manchunman 44 53.0 519 34.9

Manjiang 14 16.9 200 13.4
Mange 6 7.2 111 7.5
Manzha 13 15.7 217 14.6
Manting 6 7.2 440 29.6
Total 83 100.0 1,487 100.0

Source: “Employee Register of Dai village Company,” October 2003.

Fun Time with a Dai Family business operators also want tourists to visit so that
they can earn tourism income. The same is true for Dai house operators, but in the
course of reception the former establish a relatively close relationship with tour-
ists. There are also authentic sentiments in sales. Each and every visiting tourist
has some interaction with the hosts. In particular, tourists who stay overnight have
very deep impressions of the Dai people. Whether they stay overnight or not, these
individual tourists generally believe that the best representations of Dai culture at
Dai village are the hardworking, kind-hearted, hospitable, and unsophisticated Dai
people. The tour makes them feel both physically and mentally relaxed and they
experience the culture and life of a different place and ethnicity. “We feel as though
we are staying at a friend’s for a couple of days, relaxed and comfortable. We feel
very good.” To the question “Are you likely to revisit Dai village within the next
 SPRING 2007 41

two years?” their replies differ from those of group tourists: “Definitely” (56 per-
cent); “Very likely” (38 percent); “No” (only 6 percent) (see Table 5).
These latter hosts are also extremely sincere with the guests. They think that the
tourists all like the dishes they make very much. “Some tourists said that they did
not like spicy Dai-flavor food, but just fell in love with it after dining here.” The
guests are also satisfied with their experience staying at Dai houses. “Some guests
said that they did not know that they could eat and sleep here; some checked out of
Jinghong accommodation and came here; some didn’t even bother to check out
elsewhere and came directly here.” Some tourists complain that the admission is
too high. The women operating Fun Time with a Dai Family are also concerned
about this. Tourists who have been here a couple of times hope that the Dai Village
Company will not charge them admission any more. “Those frequent visitors are
just like relatives or friends. We often call each other. Sometimes we even ask our
guests to buy something for us. But Dai village has no consideration for these
human feelings and will not grant them free admission. This embarrasses us.”
They often ask the tourists their opinion of the operations at Fun Time with a Dai
Family and have gained a lot of knowledge from them, including even the idea of
Internet marketing.
At present Fun Time with a Dai Family receives more local than outside tour-
ists, but Dai women still prefer to receive outside tourists. The major reason for
this preference is that they feel that those tourists are more civilized and polite and
bring them insight and knowledge. At the end of the visit, hosts and guests who
have enjoyed the time spent together exchange business cards or leave their ad-
dresses or telephone numbers. This serves a dual purpose of effective communica-
tion and economic exchange.
Overall, there are differences between Dai houses and Fun Time with a Dai
Family in terms of types of guests, degree of contact, goods and services provided
to the tourists, tourism income earned, and the resulting tourist experience and
host-guest relations (see Table 6 for detailed comparisons).

Villager-Employee with Dual Identity

The Dai house and Fun Time with a Dai Family operators reap economic benefits.
Villagers who are hired by the company have no advantage in income, but com-
pared with others, company employees have greater opportunities and a wider
social life that includes coworkers, tourists, superiors, and local government de-
partments, as well as corporate culture. This is a form of all-around training for
them. Employment with the company provides the young people in particular with
a very good learning and training opportunity. They can improve their skills and
widen their social experiences. In a sense, they have changed status: from being
farmers to being workers. For community residents, getting a job in the company
is a good thing because it means stable income, learning opportunity, and higher
social status.
42 CHINESE SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY

Table 4

Group Tourists’ Replies to Question About Revisiting Dai Village Within the
Next Two Years

Reply Number of people Percentage

Definitely yes 10 25.0

Not sure 19 47.5
Definitely no 11 27.5
Total 40 100.0

Source: Survey conducted at Dai village tourist attraction in December 2003.

Table 5

Individual Tourists’ Replies to Question About Revisiting Dai Village Within

the Next Two Years

Reply Number of people Percentage

Definitely yes 28 56.0

Not sure 19 38.0
Definitely no 3 6.0
Total 60 100.0

Source: Survey conducted at Dai village tourist attraction in December 2003.

Although working as company employees, these villagers still enjoy other ben-
efits just like all other villagers, such as the land they own and the profit-sharing in
the village. This dual identity brings them twice the advantages as well as providing
a dilemma in making decisions. In many matters, they may make exactly opposite
choices depending on the company or community perspective. Dual-identity em-
ployees thus often find themselves in a predicament. As a matter of fact, however,
their dilemmas and embarrassments are temporary whereas the rewards are lasting.
Overall, people who operate the Dai houses and Fun Time with a Dai Family
reap a lot of rewards, both material and spiritual. All this is because of the arrival
of tourists. Yet the host-guest relations are not the same and sometimes very differ-
ent. As company employees, some community residents have dual identities and
hence many rewards. There is competition and conflict among the three groups
(Dai house operators, Fun Time with a Dai Family operators, and company em-
ployees), but in their view, the tourists are very likeable. Except for occasions
when tour guides may come across some captious tourists, the majority agree that
the tourists are likeable. All they bring is money, happiness, and new knowledge.
 SPRING 2007 43

Table 6

Comparison of Reception at Dai Houses and Fun Time with a Dai Family

Item for comparison Dai houses Fun time with a Dai family

Type of tourists Mainly tour groups Mainly individual tourists

Degree of contact Short stay, contact with
individual family members
Goods and services Sandy gold and sandy
provided silver
Tourism income Many tourists, high profits
and income, 10 percent of
Dai women have cell
phones
Tourist experience Enthusiastic about
marketing, confusing the
authentic and the fake,
commercialized
Host-guest relations Virtual on the spot, non-
existent afterward, not
strong enough to affect
revisit decision
Longer stay, contact with the
entire family
Dai meals and accommodation,
hospitality etiquette, lifestyle
Limited tourists, relatively low
income, almost nobody has a
cell phone
Enthusiastic and unsophisti-
cated, good at singing and
dancing, relaxing and quiet life,
emerging commodity awareness
Sincere throughout with
possibility of follow-up and
subsequent contact, factor in
revisit decision

Irreconcilable Interest Relations in Dai Village Community

Participation

Dai village community residents are widely involved in tourist operational activi-
ties. The company also tries its utmost to promote community participation in
tourism. However, in the actual course of events, due to different interest claims,
there are various kinds of irreconcilable interest relations between the company’s
short-term and long-term interests, between the company and the villagers, and
among villages and even within villages. Conflicts of interests among stakehold-
ers are barriers to in-depth community participation in tourism development.

Various Interest Relations Are Hard for the Company to Deal With

As the initiator in tourism development, the Dai Village Company finds itself in
various interest relations with other stakeholders. To effectively deal with these is
no easy task. It is an issue they have to face all the time.

Relations with the Government Departments

Through participation in tourist operations, the people at Dai village increase their
incomes, provide employment opportunities, and promote the growth of the local
44 CHINESE SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY

economy. The construction of a tourism infrastructure at the tourist attraction helps

improve the living standards of the farmers and gives the rural area a new look.
Therefore the local government and its departments are strongly supportive of
development at Dai village. But for an enterprise to obtain consistent support from
the local government, it must successfully balance the working relationships with
various local departments, including tourism, culture, public security, industry and
commerce, tax affairs, land use, urban construction, forestry management, and
quarantine. That way they can smoothly carry out their work. Dai village is
Xishuangbanna prefecture’s window to the outside world and takes on a lot of
missions. For important receptions, not only is admission free, but also hospitality
fees should be contributed. During the holidays, there are numerous requests for
free or discounted admissions from leaders of various departments at various lev-
els. This puts tremendous pressure on an enterprise that mainly depends on in-
come from admissions for benefits.

Relations with Ganlan Dam Farm

At present, Dai village is a joint-equity enterprise, and the shareholders are state-
owned Ganlan Dam Farm and Kunming Yiliang Nanyang Construction Company.
The current investment from Ganlan Dam Farm amounts to almost RMB20 mil-
lion. Although a major shareholder, the state-owned enterprise has a complicated
attitude toward Dai village. The farm leaders want to see the benefits during their
watch and thus are not so interested in the long-term benefits of Dai village. This
makes it difficult for the company to implement its long-term objective of a sus-
tainable development of tourism.

Relations with Various Contractors of Dai Village

Dai Village Company has encountered some difficulties in its operations. Faced
with operational difficulties and debt pressure, the company has had to consider
short-term benefits and abandon long-term benefits in some of its decisions. At
present there are some individually operated businesses within the tourist attrac-
tion, such as storage battery cars, Dai-flavor restaurants, lending of clothes for
water sprinkling, digital photography, clothes and crafts stands, the Dai Village
Hotel, performance of marriage customs, and so on. Every year, the company
obtains from these businesses total contract fees of about RMB1 million. The fees
are certainly of some help in alleviating the crisis in funds that the company is
experiencing, but some of these businesses are an invisible tarnish on the tourist
image of the company—for example, the performance of marriage rituals.
At Dai village, there is also another special interest party in the temples. Temples
are important venues for activity in Dai communities. They are of great impor-
tance in the eyes of the community residents. The company and Manchunman
 SPRING 2007 45

Temple have reached an agreement in their cooperation and sharing of profits, but
the company has no right to interfere with many activities and sources of income
at the temple.

Relations with Farmers

The relationship between the company and the farmers is not a harmonious one.
There are conflicts and contradictions from time to time. The management of Dai
houses remains at a superficial level instead of being in-depth. The company claims
that it has been addressing the issue of fake sandy gold and sandy silver all the
time. It has always required the villages to sell them to the tourists as crafts. The
decision remains with the tourists. The company thinks that it is their own business
if some tourists decide and are willing to buy these products. The company be-
lieves that the reason why Dai houses survive is because the tourists are supporting
them. Therefore the disappearance of Dai houses can only happen with the consid-
ered purchases of tourists.
The company also only considered its own benefits when deciding the fees for
Fun Time with a Dai Family. The standardization and management of Fun Time
with a Dai Family require long-term action as well as human resources and mate-
rial input from the company. But when the company decided to introduce the fee-
charge policy, the households operating Fun Time with a Dai Family were not
mentally prepared at all and were very resentful.

Estrangement Between Villagers and the Company

Ever since the start of the business, the villagers have had various complaints about
the company. Those who have benefited complain and those who did not also
complain. Antagonism among the villagers is everywhere to be found. For ex-
ample, the company often organizes events to engage the villagers in cultural,
recreational, and sports activities for the sake of development. Villagers will not
participate in major publicity events unless the company pays them money. In
order to vent their dissatisfaction, some villagers even intentionally ruin the activi-
ties by cutting down the forestation trees, smearing and scratching signs, and tak-
ing away company property and selling it as waste material, for example. The
villagers’ complaints center mainly around the following areas:

Land

Land is the basis of subsistence for villagers and therefore they are very concerned
about any alterations in land use. They thought that, since the company took their
land, they would get a lot of help in how to run the business and that some of their
requirements would be met, too.
46 CHINESE SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY

Hiring

Since many of villagers’ children stay home doing nothing and this number is still
increasing, the hope is that the company will hire them. Close to 90 percent of the
villagers hope to work at Dai village, but the company only has limited vacancies
to offer. Therefore the villagers have a lot of complaints.

Collection of Management Fees

In July and August 2003, the company started collecting management fees from
Fun Time with a Dai Family businesses, in the amount of RMB100, RMB200, or
RMB300 per month, depending on the scale of the business. In the beginning
Mihaguang’s group was strongly against it. However, Mihaguang’s Fun Time with
a Dai Family started paying the fees from December 2003. Most of the villagers
are still not happy about the levy of management fees on Fun Time with a Dai
Family. However, some operators have no choice but to pay because they need to
utilize the resources that the company provides. Dai houses are at a stage when
they do not need support or assistance from the company, however, so they hope
that there will be less management and interference with their incomes. The big-
gest psychological disadvantage among Fun Time with a Dai Family operators is
that the company is not levying any management fees on Dai houses. “It is very
difficult to operate Fun Time with a Dai Family businesses, which mainly rely on
individual tourists. Those tour groups just come and go without bringing us any
income. They certainly go upstairs in the Dai houses and bring them many ben-
efits, but the company doesn’t ask them to pay management fees.”
As a matter of fact, many of the complaints that the villagers have about the
company are misunderstandings caused by lack of communication. The villagers
think that the people in the company are high-ups who look down upon Dai people.
The villagers who actually benefit have the most complaints about the company,
whereas those who have not benefited so much are more reserved and less expres-
sive. The company memory is generally in the form of official “internal” texts, to
which villagers will not have access. The villagers’ memory is characterized by
fully dimensional capture of both old and new records in their minds. Individual
employees’ personal remarks and behaviors are recorded in their account of the
company. They will keep in their hearts even things that other people have come
across or have conveyed to them by broadcasting them far and wide. After some
time the things discussed remain in their memories as facts. Lacking a channel for
rational expression of opinion, it is easy for community residents to develop an-
tagonism toward the company. The villagers’ desire is to have a share of the in-
come from admissions and they have higher and higher expectations of the company.
With the widening of the gap between desire and reality, there is bound to be more
conflict.
 SPRING 2007 47

Imbalance Among and Conflicts Within Villages

Imbalance in Tourism Participation Among Villages

Among the five villages at the tourist attraction, there is an extreme degree of
imbalance in terms of tourism participation. Manchunman has the highest degree
of participation at almost 100 percent and in many forms, including Dai houses,
Fun Time with a Dai Family, fruits, and craft sales. Manjiang also has a high de-
gree of participation with more than 80 percent of the families involved in Dai
houses, fruit and barbecue stands, and Fun Time with a Dai Family businesses.
Manzha, where the participation rate is about 60 to 70 percent, mainly operates
Fun Time with a Dai Family. Some individual families sell fruit. At Mange village,
some families sell fruit and operate Fun Time with a Dai Family. As the second
largest village, Manting hardly participated in any tourism prior to 2003, except
for a few individuals that had been hired by the company. Now some families have
just started participating in Fun Time with a Dai Family, but the percentage is still
small. Except for most of the families at Manchunman and some families in other
villages, most community residents still depend on agriculture and rubber for their
basic source of income.
In order to balance out the different tourism activities among the communities,
the company once tried to direct them to participate in various operations based on
their own conditions. The purpose of this was to avoid competition and conflict
and to form a diversified economic structure in the community. But in reality, the
action only helped to balance out Manchunman, Manzha, and Manjing that were
involved in the brawl, and there was little consideration for Manting and Mange.
At present, the operation of Fun Time with a Dai Family at Manzha is thriving. At
Manting, people are beginning to participate more. New conflicts are about to
occur.

Conflicts Among Residents in the Villages

After participating in tourist operational activities, community residents are more

frequently involved in economic interactions than before as well as social interac-
tions. The competitiveness in economic interactions has also introduced much dis-
cord into their previously harmonious interpersonal relations. No matter whether
it involves a Dai house or Fun Time with a Dai Family, operators of the same
business have to face competition over clients. In fighting for clients, arguments
are a daily occurrence. People of Dai nationality like being married to people
within the same village, thus 80 percent of the families in the village are related to
some extent. But since the tourism business started, many relatives who were pre-
viously on good terms with each other are engaged in conflict and disputes over
clients and money.
48 CHINESE SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY

Conclusion

Dai village is a community tourist destination developed by the company and par-
ticipated in by local residents. The community itself is an important part of the
landscape so that the tourist attraction and the community are integral parts of a
whole. In the integrated tourist attraction live very special residents: people of
minority nationality. It is the existence of the unique Dai nationality that brings
high tourist value to the development of the tourist attraction. The unique Dai
culture is very attractive to tourists. Developers, however, should think more be-
fore they act. If they cannot address relations among the various interest groups, a
series of problems are likely to occur. Dai village Company attaches great impor-
tance to the issue of participation in tourism by community residents and regards the
promotion of community participation as an important strategy in their tourism man-
agement. But in practice, communities play a passive role in tourism development
and their participation is far from being multidimensional and in-depth. They are
still being managed instead of participating in mutual management. A series of con-
flicts and contradictions are thus incurred. Residents find it hard to figure out the real
intentions of the company and the company has no clue as to what is on the mind of
the villagers. As a result, company-directed community participation is ineffective
and the development objective of the company is not being achieved.
Company direction and community participation are the true effective means
of tourism development. The company should try very hard to develop commu-
nity awareness of tourism and promote community development. Dai village should
encourage community residents to recognize their own culture and traditional tour-
ism values, enhance their identification with their own culture, and gradually de-
velop strong community awareness. In this way, community residents will not
only participate in the operational activities, but also in the policymaking, imple-
mentation, and monitoring of systems in the development of community tourism.
Dai village is increasingly mature as a tourist attraction and the villagers’ partici-
patory activities should be further standardized. They should also enhance their
self-management and coordinate relations among various stakeholders in an equi-
table manner. That is the only way to maintain the competitiveness of the tourist
attraction and the momentum of community development. As far as community
tourism is concerned, only tourism that can promote all-around community devel-
opment can be considered sustainable tourism.

Notes
1. Like an elders’ association, which exists in every natural village among the Dai
people. Each association is composed of one elder and several members. They have all been
monks at temples before, understand the Dai language, and enjoy high prestige in the vil-
lage. They are responsible for managing public affairs and handling disputes among the
residents.
2. Also known as “New House Celebration.” After the completion of a new house, the
 SPRING 2007 49

Dai people hold a series of ceremonies to celebrate its building. The ceremonies are hosted
by the elders and attended by families and friends. Zanha (a folk singer of Dai nationality)
may also sing some congratulatory songs.
3. Mihaguang graduated from junior high school. She is considered well-educated among
Dai women. I stayed at her place twice and have built up a position of trust with her. She
recorded the statistics in this account at my request. She intentionally skipped the National
Day Golden Week Holiday in her registration, because their income during this week was
much higher than at other times, each one earning over RMB1,000.
4. On March 10, 2004, Mihaguang said this during my telephone inquiry about her
business situation.

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