Villages and heritage face change on China-Vietnam border

Researchers studied 194 traditional villages and 942 items of intangible cultural heritage in Honghe, Wenshan, and Pu’er prefectures in Yunnan province, China, a region bordering Vietnam.

They examined how these cultural elements are distributed and how they relate to each other as the area undergoes modernization and globalization. The study found villages clustered around the Ailao Mountains and Honghe River Basin, while heritage items showed a less concentrated pattern with two main clusters.

The researchers determined the centers of these village and heritage distributions were 61.21 kilometers apart, revealing a spatial mismatch. Honghe prefecture showed a pattern where villages were common but heritage items were scarce, while the opposite was true in Pu’er and Wenshan. Using several analytical models, the study linked this distribution to the area’s geography, economy, and history. Hydrothermal conditions and topography strongly influenced where villages and heritage thrived, alongside the impact of border crossings and transportation networks.

The research aims to give local authorities a basis for protecting both traditional villages and intangible cultural heritage in a coordinated way.