mrsjono: April 2008

sichuan

My trip to Mt Qing Cheng can be summarized as “Nothingness” (from the English translation of 无为) as I learnt almost nothing from the trip.

The money-spinning tourism industry has lured the local community to jump onto the bandwagon by offering a “cheaper alternative” to tourists. We were “coaxed” into entering Mt Qing Cheng via the “back door” route which would enable us to avoid paying 10 yuan to cross the bridge and 70 yuan to take the cablecar up the mountain plus a filling home-cooked meal for lunch all for 75 yuan (student price). We only realized they had “swallowed” the entrance tickets by leading us through a different route and distributed the money among themselves after climbing for a few hours.

The old woman with a basket in front was supposed to lead us up the mountains to the place where we will have our lunch. She's damn fit. We were all panting and sweating (see his shiny neck full of sweat) but she could just go on and on and even had to wait for us to catch up. Guess how old is she? 69! I had a hard time keeping up bcos she walked really fast!

Along the way, I saw two Taoists and I tried to take a photo of them. They looked angry and offended and started muttering something which I could not understand. There was no opportunity for us to interact and I feel that the Taoists who live or practice here must have felt resentment towards the intrusion of visitors into their territory who have disturbed the tranquility of the place.

Lost

No one is in front of me! I'm the first! (as well as the last.)

Butler et al (2004) proposed that a tourist’s experience and perception of a site is affected by his religion, strength of religious belief and his motivations to visit the site. Along the way, we saw many temples such as Shang Qing Gong, Tianshi and Chaoyang Cave. These old structures would mean nothing to non-Taoists like me hence I could not relate to the site.

I think it is rather difficult to present religion in tourism as it is a sensitive issue. At the summit of Mt Qing Cheng (青城第一峰), there were several verses and chapters on The Way extracted from 《道德经》 in gold writing displayed on the walls of the temple to educate visitors on The Way. However to Taoists, the real Tao cannot be understood, cannot be explained using language; it is ineffable and transcendent and can only be known through mystical insight which cannot be translated into words. ("Those who know don't say, those who say don't know.") Therefore, what might constitute as Tao might not be so to real Taoists. The real meaning of Tao might end up being distorted through tourism. Furthermore, religious sites only appeal and hold meaning to certain groups of people associated with that religion only. Therefore, not everybody will be able to understand and appreciate this place.

Qing Cheng summit (1260m above sea level)

The first and most well-known verse of 道德经: 道可道非常道，名可名非常名
"The Way that can be spoken is not the true Way."
"The Name that can be named is not the constant Name."

道 literally means "path" or "way", and one view states that the paradoxical opening is intended to prepare the reader for teachings about the unteachable Tao. It is believed to be transcendent, indistinct and without form. Hence, it cannot be named or categorized. Even the word Tao can be considered a dangerous temptation to make Tao a limiting "name."

Tourism can also be seen as a form of cultural exploitation due to globalization and the growing influence of the capitalist system. Davydd J. Greenwood mentioned that ‘culture is being packaged, priced, and sold like fast food.’ (Greenwood, 1977) Culture is now being packaged into a commodity that can be bought by anyone who has the money to do so. I spotted a stall selling 青城山茶 and was rather skeptical about it as I believe it is just normal tea leaves borrowing the name of the mountain and selling it as a specialty of the place. There were many small souvenir shops selling irrelevant things such as Mao’s Little Red Book which have no association to Mt Qing Cheng at all. The only relevant souvenirs were T-shirts with the words "道" and "青城山" on it. I felt that was the most appropriate souvenir as it represented Mt Qing Cheng as a place of Taoist origin so I bought it. This simple act attributes to the argument of John Urry that ‘tourism involves the collection of signs’ (Urry, 1995: 133) and this can be seen as ‘a form of culture collecting’. (Clifford, 1988: 231) However, I realized the colour of the Yin-Yang figure was wrong only after wearing it a few days later!

I wore this shirt to class for my presentation. The Yin-Yang figure is supposed to be black & white, not red. It looks like some evil cult.

By opening up Mt Qing Cheng to the outside world, the tranquility of the place has been destroyed. Nature is not original or natural anymore. Local communities, small lodgings and inns are starting to grow at the foot of the mountain, their primary purpose is money. The ill effects of tourism will soon erode the holiness and peacefulness of the place, which is supposed to be well-known as "青城天下幽".

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