Paper short abstract:

Tourism is not only the outcome of communities' efforts but also a 'weapon' to keep the harmony of communities and cultural resilience. This paper discusses how tourism came into being and played its role in a traditional community within cultural protection, local religion and political pursuit.

Paper long abstract:

Q village, located in the southwest China, was an essential post of ancient Tea and Salt Route. Within urbanization and modernization, the movement of Intangible Cultural Heritage, Rural Revitalization and rapid development of tourism are influencing the local communities, and inhabitants have tried various ways to attract the outsiders, develop economy as well as their culture.

This paper focuses on the rebuilding of L temple in Q village, to study how tourism came into being and played its role in a traditional community with the background of cultural protection, local religion and political pursuit. It suggests that though the community building in Q village was from bottom to top, how and why tourism developed were results of multi-discourses' negotiation. Such discussions can provide a further analysis on the relationship among tourism, vernacular culture and local community. It also help us to understand Chinese cultural logic.