Rural Tourism and Local Perceptions of Change (In Yunnan, China)

This dissertation project analyses local perceptions of change related to tourism development in Lashi Hai, a wetland conservation area in north-west Yunnan (China). My research is located in the field of social and cultural anthropology. By exploring local narratives that create places for tourists and at the same time recreated them for the narrators themselves, this research aims at understanding processes of social, economic or cultural change from an inside (emic) perspective. To contextualize this understanding, the narratives are analysed within the geographic and historical settings of the area. Thus regional, national as well as international discourses on environmental conservation or ethnic minority issues for example are taken into account. A special interest of this research is to find out how local perspectives are related to those narratives produced by different government levels, international organisations or NGOs. Hence it aims at better understanding how different narratives interact, create discourses and influence (and are influenced by) local changes.