Is colonial heritage negative or not so much?Debating heritage discourses and selective interpretation of Kulangsu,China

Heritage is in essence dissonant,especially colonial heritage in postcolonial nations.Via questionnaire surveys and inter‑views,this study investigates Kulangsu in Xiamen,China,a colonial heritage site mainly developed in the 19th and 20th centuries,to unveil the local government’s authorised heritage discourse(AHD)of the site and how tourists perceive the colonial past of Kulangsu and construct their own heritage discourse(s).Results show that,when considering the colonial history of the site,neither the AHD promoted by the authorities nor the tourists’lay discourses are necessarily negative.However,tension implicitly arises between the tourists’demand for comprehensive heritage information and the authorities’selective interpretation of the site.Although the AHD afects lay discourses to some extent,most tourists expect the authorities to present more complete and neutral information about heritage so they can refect and forge their own conception of colonial legacies.From a critical heritage studies perspective,this tension refects the power imbalance between the authorities and the tourists and reminds the authorities and heritage experts to rethink heritage tourism and conservation in terms of heritage interpretation.This paper,therefore,calls for additional refection on the legitimacy of selective interpretation,which implicates a complex process of intricate reasoning that is underpinned by the power imbalance between the authorities and the tourists,ultimately resulting in an AHD.

Echo from the underground: the heritage customization of subway infrastructures in Shanghai’s listed areas

The design of metro stations constitutes a clear example of the new core role of culture in a city such as Shanghai that remains to be assessed from a critical heritage perspective.As an unexplored dimension of a massive heritage institutional apparatus,metro stations act as‘white canvases’where commercial,political and cultural messages are displayed.These messages contribute to city branding while simultaneously influencing the perception and interpretation of the historic urban landscape above ground.This research offers insights into the subway stations located in the listed heritage areas of Shanghai and the architectural,artistic and exhibitive resources that‘give character’to these stations.The research applies visual methods and discursive analysis based on direct observation of these‘characteristic’elements in metro stations.The paper establishes the argument that the amount and distribution of these characteristic elements in the metro network offers unequal representation of the importance of the heritage areas above.When represented,we argue that such features convey renewed narratives of urban identity according to an authorised heritage discourse in Shanghai.These narratives cater to an image of ideal,harmonious continuity between the past and the future that aims to characterise Shanghai as a Chinese global metropolis.