Community Heritage Linking Place and Mobility: A Case Study of “Bangbei” in Ethnic Bai Villages of Yunnan Province, China

Cansong Li, Xuebo Zhang, Ian G. Baird and Juncheng Dai
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Cansong Li: School of Tourism and Geography Science & Collaborative Innovation Center for Geopolitical Setting of Southwest China and Borderland Development, Yunnan Normal University, 768 E Juxian Road, Kunming 650500, China
Xuebo Zhang: School of Geography and Tourism, Qufu Normal University, 80 Yantai Bei Road, Rizhao 276800, China
Ian G. Baird: Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 550 N. Park St., Madison, WI 53706, USA
Juncheng Dai: School of Culture and Communication & Cultural Economics Research Institute, Central University of Finance and Economics, 39 South College Road, Beijing 100081, China

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 7, 1-15

Abstract: Is there any kind of community heritage that links individuals and homes within the context of increasing mobility? In this study, the unique Bangbei system of the Bai ethnic group in Dianbei District of Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China is examined. In-depth interviews have been employed to assess the evolution of Bangbei and the dynamic nature of its development. We find that Bangbei has become an important “place-making” tool for linking people and their “homes”, thus serving as a spatially unbounded place-based community heritage mechanism that sees community as not only place-bound, but as increasingly dispersed and mobile. This case prompts us to rethink the spatial boundedness of particular community heritages and their role in making and maintaining placeness in the context of increasing globalization and associated mobility. Thinking about Bangbei helps us conceptualize community heritage in a more spatially expansive and unbounded way.

Keywords: mobility; place; community heritage; bangbei; Bai; Yunnan; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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