2007—Using the Lishui Landscape Belt as the Main Battlefield to Build the "Core" of Urban Tourism (Part 2)
II. Photo Exhibition Section. To build a world-class tourism destination, Zhangjiajie must position itself as an international tourism city. —Zhang Chunxian, Provincial Party Secretary and Director of the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Congress. The city's image must be rapidly enhanced... Strive to preliminarily present the new look of a uniquely styled international tourism city by 2011. —Hu Bojun, Municipal Party Secretary. We must stand at a world-class...
This article has been compiled from historical materials in the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com · City Overview section). Some administrative divisions, population, socioeconomic data, and policy information may be outdated and are for reference only; for the latest situation, please refer to official releases by the local government and scenic areas.
II. Photo exhibition section.
To build a world-class tourism masterpiece, Zhangjiajie must be positioned as an international tourist city.
— Zhang Chunxian, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Director of the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Congress
The city's image must be rapidly enhanced.... Strive to initially present the new appearance of an international tourist city with unique style by 2011.
— Hu Bojun, Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee
We must stand on the platform of world-class resources and think about how to build a world-class city.
— Zhao Xiaoming, Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee and Mayor
Foreword
Comrade Zhang Chunxian, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, pointed out at the 'April 1st' Zhangjiajie City World Tourism Masterpiece Construction Progress Report Meeting: 'When we build a city, it must not only have basic urban functions, but also serve as the support and carrier for a world tourism masterpiece, meeting tourism needs,' 'focus on key constructions around satisfying tourists' needs for food, accommodation, transportation, sightseeing, shopping, and entertainment,' 'so that after tourists arrive in this city, they know they have entered the scenic area, that they have entered Zhangjiajie.' Secretary Chunxian and Governor Zhou Qiang's 'April 1st' speeches on Zhangjiajie's urban construction involve various fields such as urban re-planning and positioning, determining the main architectural style of the city, government guidance of market operations to build key projects well, and achieving sound and rapid development to realize 'visible changes in three years, major transformations in five years.' They are far-sighted, handle major issues with ease, and are highly targeted and operable, serving as a programmatic document for applying the Scientific Outlook on Development to guide Zhangjiajie's urban construction toward sound and rapid development.
At present, the Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government are earnestly implementing the spirit of the "April 1" speeches by the main leaders of the Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government, basing everything on "visible changes in three years and great changes in five years" in the city's appearance, and with the determination of "better to cut off one finger than to injure ten," amid a myriad of tasks, they have made the Lishui Scenic Belt the construction focus and clarified its position as the main battlefield of urban construction. The main roads and street-facing buildings, green belts, flood control embankments, and the Lishui Scenic Belt include the riverside waters and bridges on the north and south banks of the urban area, as well as the historic streets and alleys of the old city and the scenic spots scattered on both banks of the urban area. Making the Lishui Scenic Belt the focus of urban construction is an objective choice and accommodation of the locational and resource advantages possessed by this section, and it is also the only place in this city that can be expected to become the "core" of tourism. It must be frankly acknowledged that as a tourist city, Zhangjiajie faces the severe challenge of marginalization because its urban area cannot carry out urban tourism. The key reason lies in the lack of a city "core" capable of attracting tourists' gaze and keeping tourists' footsteps. Therefore, the Lishui Scenic Belt should be built into the "core" of urban tourism as an unswerving construction goal. If so, then planting melons yields melons; otherwise it is a failure, sowing dragon seeds and harvesting fleas.
But how can the Lishui Scenic Belt be built into the "core" of urban tourism? How can we avoid sowing dragon seeds and harvesting fleas? As planners, on the basis of in-depth research, we have successively produced the "Lishui Scenic Belt Planning Text" and the "Lishui Scenic Belt 'Half-Side Street' Project Creativity and Concept," attempting to provide positive answers from construction philosophy to the operational level.
Part One: The prominent position of characteristic architecture in waterfront scenic belts at home and abroad
[Brief introduction] Looking around at cities under heaven, wherever a waterfront scenic belt has become the "core" of urban tourism, its main element is characteristic architecture, not green belts. Characteristic architecture is a special cultural carrier; it can record history and also sculpt time, and it holds an irreplaceable prominent position in the "core" of urban tourism. No city's waterfront scenic belt has ever achieved the status of the "core" of urban tourism by relying on green belts. Therefore, whether to focus on planting trees and grass or on characteristic architectural complexes represents two utterly different concepts of scenic belts. The former can satisfy residents' leisure, while the latter can satisfy both tourists' travel and residents' leisure. Which is superior and which inferior is self-evident.
▲ The Bund, Shanghai
It is undoubtedly the "core" of Greater Shanghai tourism. The main landscape constituting this "core" is the characteristic architectural complex known as the "Expo of World Architecture."
▲ Venice Water City
In this world-famous water city, one cannot see the slightest green belt in its "core of tourism," yet because of the large areas of characteristic architecture and charm lining the riverbanks and water alleys, 12 million tourists linger and forget to return every year.
▲ Dutch Windmill Village
Tourists from around the world who travel to the Netherlands must visit the Windmill Village. The windmills and characteristic architecture of the waterfront scenic belt are truly exquisite! This shows that architectural complexes with unique individuality and full regional cultural characteristics are enough to constitute eternal charm.
▲ The Seine, Paris
Because both banks gather a large number of classic buildings such as the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, Notre-Dame de Paris, the Louvre, the Place de la Concorde, and the Champs-Élysées, as well as countless beautiful and moving stories that took place among them, it has become a world-famous waterfront scenic belt.
[Commentary] The urban "cores" of the above world-famous tourist cities have two major characteristics: first, they are built on waterfronts; second, they take large-volume, large-scale, large-scale, grand-style characteristic architecture with extremely strong visual impact and extremely high aesthetic value as the main landscape. Even if there is greenery (rather than the large-volume green belts commonly seen in China), it merely serves as a foil to the buildings. The two banks of the Lishui River flowing through the city form a narrow and long river valley landform, and "small mountain city of northwestern Hunan" is the basic cognition of our city's appearance. To achieve urban tourism on such a site, copying the usual practice of plain cities by creating a stretch of green belt on both banks is certainly unworkable: because merely demolishing large areas of houses in densely built-up areas to create green belts, planting a stretch of trees and grass on both banks, may be acceptable for residents to stroll and relax, but it absolutely cannot attract tourists' attention; therefore the government need not spend huge sums to pay this bill.
▲ Fenghuang stilted houses
It is precisely the misty, atmospheric scenery and charm of the cluster of stilted houses on both banks of the Tuo River that, within just a few years, has unexpectedly turned this place into a tourism destination that draws everyone's attention. Who could believe that several years ago, amid the wave of "old city redevelopment," quite a few people proposed demolishing the "hopelessly outdated" stilted houses on both banks and building greenbelts and modern architecture just like big cities? Fortunately, the local officials of Fenghuang were not muddleheaded and did not listen to such foolish ideas—otherwise, could Fenghuang still enjoy its glorious tourism today?
▲ Nanjing's Qinhuai River
Tall buildings and skyscrapers cannot hold tourists' hurried footsteps; instead, one after another they flock to Nanjing, the ancient capital of six dynasties, for that alluring, romantic ten-li Qinhuai River. If one day Nanjing residents were to tear down these wooden buildings and tiled houses and build a greenbelt indistinguishable from any other place in the world, would out-of-town visitors still come to the Qinhuai River?
Part Two: The Lishui Scenic Belt Should Highlight Characteristic Buildings in the Stilted-House Style
[Preface] In his "April 1st" speech, Secretary Zhang Chunxian pointed out: "Zhangjiajie's current cityscape has no dominant style. What exactly is Zhangjiajie's dominant style? As things stand, it can probably be expressed in two ways: first, symbols of the Xiangxi Tujia people, such as stilted houses; second, the dominant color palette of Tujia dwellings, such as gray tiles and white walls. Both aspects deserve study, and once determined, they should be unified across the entire city. After re-planning the city, the basic style of the city should be established, so that when tourists arrive, they can feel the soul of the city. A city must have a soul and must have character." Comrade Chunxian, standing at the height of building an international tourism city and drawing on comparisons and references from numerous cities at home and abroad, clearly put forward this line of thinking. Just as Huangshan highlights Huizhou-style architecture, Jiuzhaigou highlights Tibetan-style architecture, Dali highlights Bai-style architecture, and Inner Mongolia highlights yurt architecture, we should unswervingly follow the spirit of the "April 1st" speech by the main leaders of the provincial Party committee and provincial government, and establish "modern architecture in the Tujia stilted-house style" as the dominant architectural tone of our city. The Lishui Scenic Belt, which will become the "core" of urban tourism, should be even more meticulously crafted into a model and classic of modern architecture in the stilted-house style! As Comrade Chunxian hoped, "when tourists arrive, they can feel the soul of the city." Those comrades who once held prejudices against the "stilted-house style" and who fundamentally never intended to build "modern architecture in the stilted-house style" in our city—including those who only planned to put up a few stilted houses in one section of the scenic belt as decoration—I believe that after earnestly studying the spirit of Comrade Chunxian's speech, they should gain new understanding. The provincial Party secretary's instruction on establishing the dominant style of urban architecture is extremely strategically farsighted; we should deeply comprehend his painstaking intentions and implement them to the letter.
Local Examples of Modern Architecture in the Stilted-House Style (Part One)
▲ Jinlan Grand Hotel
Professor Wan Min, the renowned architect who designed the Macau Taipa Cross-Sea Bridge and the Hangzhou Bay Cross-Sea Bridge, pointed at the Jinlan Grand Hotel under construction and said: "This stilted-house building puts all the other buildings near Guanliping to shame." Its designer is Duan Zhoude of the Zhangjiajie Municipal Planning and Architectural Design Institute—a member of the Municipal CPPCC and the China Democratic League.
▲ Office Building of the Municipal Planning and Architectural Design Institute
The old office building of the Municipal Planning and Architectural Design Institute on Daqiao Road, together with other "matchbox" buildings, can be found almost everywhere in the city. Compared with the institute's new building, which is about to be "dressed up" with Tujia stilted-house element symbols, the contrast is like heaven and earth—the new and the old are worlds apart.
▲ Tianzi Grand Hotel
After "dressing up" renovation, the Tianzi Grand Hotel features layered eaves and tiered pavilions, rising and falling at different heights, as if it were a jeweled palace in the heavens.
▲ Yuntai Grand Hotel
The once plain-looking "matchbox," once "dressed" in Tujia stilted-house attire, has become splendid and full of variety.
▲ Jingxi International Hotel
After "dressing up" renovation, the Jingxi International Hotel in Wulingyuan stands nine stories tall, towering over its surroundings. Together with the Jinlan Grand Hotel, it decisively refutes the fallacy that the stilted-house style cannot be used for multi-story, small high-rise, or even high-rise buildings.
▲ Wulingyuan District CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention)
Several years ago, this institution already built its offices into a landscape-style courtyard in the Tujia stilted-house style. The person in charge of this unit can be called a pioneering contributor in Wulingyuan.
▲ Municipal Civil Air Defense Office Building
Were it not for the "Civil Air Defense Office" sign outside the gate, people would think it was some cultural and arts department that values aesthetics and artistic taste.
▲ Xiehe Township Government Compound, Wulingyuan District
A township government compound that was among the first to bid farewell to the tile-clad "matchbox" model and instead built landscape-style architecture in the stilted-house style. What appears to be a "return" in form is in fact a great leap forward in concept.
Local Examples of Modern Architecture in the Stilted-House Style (Part Two)
▲ Dayong Prefecture City
A scenic spot in the urban area of the city that showcases Tujia stilted houses as well as Huizhou-style horse-head walls, Bai-style screen walls, and other characteristic architecture—a beneficial attempt at promoting an urban style dominated by Tujia stilted houses.
▲ Cross Street Shopping Mall
The Cross Street Shopping Mall under construction covers over a hundred mu of land, introducing fashion into a large cluster of modern buildings in the stilted-house style, enriching and expanding the spatial concept of ethnic-characteristic architectural design.
Examples of Modern Architecture in the Stilted-House Style from Other Places
▲ Shanghai Yuyuan Commercial City
The Yuyuan commercial and cultural building complex, covering over a hundred thousand square meters and standing in rows around Shanghai's City God Temple area, is entirely modern architecture in the uniform Xiangxi Tujia stilted-house style—with carved beams and painted rafters, flawless and perfect—leaving us natives of the Tujia homeland utterly amazed. Who would have thought that the Tujia stilted house, which has been repeatedly rejected and criticized by some people (including quite a few professional architectural designers), would be adopted by Shanghai residents as a treasure for building the "core" of their city, letting it shine brilliantly and steal the show!
▲ Beijing Longfu Market
On one side of the National Art Museum of China in Beijing, there is a building complex that makes passersby stop and look up—Longfu Market. The main building was originally an ubiquitous "matchbox" and was initially intended to be demolished and rebuilt. Little did anyone know that an architect, with a touch of magic, boldly introduced symbols of the Tujia stilted houses of northwestern Hunan for a "dress-up" renovation, and it instantly became a grand work that dares to compete with the architecture of the imperial city.
Part Three: Schematic Diagram of the "Half-Side Street" Architectural Style of the Lishui Scenic Belt
1. Schematic diagram of the "Half-Side Street" architectural style of the Lishui Scenic Belt (partial): the section on the north bank from South Gate Wharf down to Baota Gang.
2. Several notes regarding the "Half-Side Street."
(1) Image positioning: A thousand-year stilted-house street, a ten-li half-side street, a tourism and leisure destination, a poetic dwelling place.
(2) Construction scope: The "ten-li half-side street" includes the core sections on both the north and south banks of the Lishui Scenic Belt; this schematic diagram of architectural style shows only a partial section of the north bank.
(3) Architectural elements: Tujia stilted houses, Tujia watchtowers, Tujia single-pillar buildings (bird's-nest-style architecture), "half-side street," suspended street, sky street, leisure and sightseeing corridor, wharves, bridge arches, waterwheels, archways, Tujia zip-lines, Tujia swinging bridges, Tujia wind-and-rain bridges (bridge upon bridge), as well as the church, pagoda, and others in the background.
(4) Creative planning: Luo Changjiang, Jin Kejian, Gong Yuexiong.
(5) Hand-drawn illustration: Tian Kaiyuan.
3. A Scroll of Interpretation. This is a place where visitors gather, a place brimming with vitality, a place to gaze at Tianmen, a place to touch and play with water, a place to savor local customs, a place to eat, drink and be merry, a place for soft singing over a cup of wine, a place for revelry until dawn, a place for easy shopping, a place to buy property and settle down, a place to make a fortune and bring blessings, a place where one forgets to return, a place for poetic dwelling. Bank echoes bank, street connects to street, bank interacts with water, boat shares joy with people, light shines together with shadow. Within the buildings there is the music of strings and pipes; on the boats there are beauties singing and dancing. The concepts and diverse contents of a whole range of leisure streets—Foreigners' Street, Beer Street, Teahouse Street, Snack Street, Food Street, Performance Street, Antique Street, Calligraphy and Painting Street, Famous Brand Street, Women's Street, Men's Street, Folk Custom Street, Bianbian Street, and the world-famous eclectic 'bar' culture streets—will all take up residence in the 'Half-Side Street' built of the stilted houses on both banks. This is the 'core' of our city's tourism tomorrow. Truly: a thousand-year-old stilted-house quarter, a ten-li half-side street, a place of tourism and leisure, a home of poetic dwelling.
Postscript
It is precisely inspired and moved by the far-sighted positioning of our city by the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee and the CPC Zhangjiajie Municipal Committee that the Municipal Committee of the China Democratic League decided, on the occasion of the speech by its members at the plenary session of the Fourth Municipal CPPCC's Fifth Session, to hold this photographic exhibition, using famous waterfront landscape belts and distinctive architecture at home and abroad as reference points.
There is no boundary of time and space between history and reality; an ethnic group deep in the mountains can likewise create a great architectural epic that captivates both within and beyond its region. We have every confidence and conviction to build the peerless ten-li stilted-house quarter (Half-Side Street), a world-class project worthy to stand comparison with the distinctive architecture of famous waterfront landscape belts at home and abroad, because this is the key move on which depends a thorough change in the current situation whereby our tourist city cannot yet offer urban tourism. Once the 'core' of urban tourism takes shape, it will inevitably complement the core scenic area and become another tourist destination for Zhangjiajie.
We firmly believe: as long as, in accordance with the positioning of leisure-oriented tourism and the principle of landscaping, each project of the Lishui Landscape Belt (and even each individual building) is well conceived, well planned, well designed, well built and well operated, then Zhangjiajie's goal of creating an urban core will surely be achieved, and the urban appearance 'changed in three years and transformed in five' can be expected to succeed at one stroke.
Here, we wish to express our heartfelt thanks to Zhangjiajie Tongda International Hotel, Weigang Real Estate Development Co., Ltd., Dadushi Real Estate Development Co., Ltd., Zhangjiajie Keyi Advertising Company and other relevant units for their friendly support of this exhibition. For any inadequacies, we respectfully ask the broad audience for criticism and correction.