Paper short abstract:

A new trend of planting roses in former agricultural fields and decorate them with huge plastic object constitutes an abrupt break with the conventional tourist imaginary of the Lashi Hai area (North West Yunnan). This paper analyses social processes behind the co- production of such tourist places.

Paper long abstract:

Back at my case study site last spring, I was puzzled by the newest infrastructure development: A several meters tall sculpture of a red high heel made of plastic in midst of a vast rose manor. In this paper I will explore co- production processes of such tourist places located at Lashi Hai, a rural area in North West Yunnan, China. Due to Lashi Hai's proximity to one of China's most visited tourism destinations, the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Lijiang Old Town, the region's tourism sector has boomed during the last ten years, almost exclusively relying on organised day trip tour groups of Han Chinese tourists. The fact that they are visiting an ethnic minority population provides abundant material for imagination: there are plentiful of images and stereotypes of ethnic minorities in media, cultural productions, tourist promotion etc. on which to base one's imaginary of this region and its people.

Planting roses in former agricultural fields and decorate them with huge plastic object constitutes an abrupt break with the conventional tourist imaginary of the area however. I conceptualise local places as stage where culture and identity are contested and interests, expectations and imaginaries of different actors are negotiated. The physical environment of the places is thus considered as materialised results of such processes. If these results consist of roses and huge plastic objects - what does that represent? Using data of recent fieldwork, I will shed light the social processes behind the co production of such tourist places.