{"id":915,"date":"2018-05-04T15:30:59","date_gmt":"2018-05-04T15:30:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/languages.oberlin.edu\/blogs\/liase\/?page_id=915"},"modified":"2021-03-14T01:16:30","modified_gmt":"2021-03-14T01:16:30","slug":"wt-2019-parks-and-the-environment-in-sichuan-china","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/cilc.oberlin.edu\/liase\/winter-term\/wt-2019-parks-and-the-environment-in-sichuan-china\/","title":{"rendered":"WT 2019 Parks and the Environment in Sichuan, China"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This trip served as a practicum in understanding the nuances of national park and resource management, environmental tourism, and environmental ethics in Sichuan province, China. Students attended a half-module course in preparation for the trip, where they conducted research in small groups and educated each other on the different destinations. Over the course of the trip, they hiked several mountains with extensive buddhist and daoist histories, learned about different types of indigenous wildlife, observed many UNESCO world heritage sites, and collected water and soil samples for future geological research projects. The trip group also partnered with students at Sichuan university to visit many of these locations and to collect data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winter Term 2019<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Parks and the Environment in Sichuan, China<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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Please read the trip description thoroughly before you apply. Application form is HERE<\/a>.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Questions: <\/b>ann.sherif@oberlin.edu<\/b><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deadline-Sept 23 Sunday 12 Midnight.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sponsor and Director: <\/strong>Amanda Schmidt, Assistant Professor of Geology<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other Faculty:<\/strong> Cheryl Cottine, Religion; Christie Parris, Sociology<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Project Partner:<\/strong> Ya Tang, Sichuan University Environmental Science<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Number of Participants: <\/strong>15 (3 faculty, 12 students)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cost: <\/strong>Up to $1500 contribution from student participants, with need based aid available<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trip Length: <\/strong>15 days plus 3 travel days; 14 days with the Chinese students (tentatively 10-24 January)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The trip will involve considerable walking through dense urban and sometimes rough natural terrain.<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brief Description<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This WT trip is part of the LIASE (Luce Initiative on Asian Studies and the Environment Grant). The focus is on park management in Sichuan, China. Although nature reserves are gaining in popularity in China, there is not a national level organization of parks comparable to the National Park Service or United States Forest Service. Thus, park management varies considerably from park to park, even within relatively small geographic areas such as a single province. For example, some parks have allowed local residents to remain living inside the park while others have relocated residents to areas outside the park. In addition, because park development and the resulting tourism can create many jobs, the economic development from parks can be significant in rural areas that otherwise may have lost most working age adults to outmigration to find work in factory towns. As a result of these factors, local attitudes towards development of parks in their locality vary significantly between parks. On this trip we will study Chinese park and natural resource management, environmental tourism, local culture and environmental ethics through visits to both popular and less well known parks throughout Sichuan Province. Through a one module half course in fall semester jointly taught at Sichuan University and Oberlin College (required for all participants), students will get to know the Chinese students who will accompany us on the trip. This program will involve both academic and experiential learning. We will partner with Professor Ya Tang from Sichuan University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theme 1: Park and Natural Resource Management<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first focus of this trip is on park and natural resource management. Although natural attraction based tourism is rapidly gaining in popularity in China (Jiuzhaigou has over 6 million visitors a year, primarily domestic tourists), park management is not centralized or systematized in the country. By visiting five different popular tourist destinations in Sichuan, we will be able to explore how the different sites are managed differently. At Wanglang and Tangjiahe Nature Reserves, we will tour the parks with staff naturalists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theme 2: Environmental Tourism<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tourism in China is primarily group tourism \u2013 individual travel is relatively rare. Thus, although people are attracted to visiting \u201cnatural\u201d environments, they typically travel with large groups on buses and do not seek solitude in the way that western tourists often expect to. We will explore Chinese ideas about how tourism should proceed and how the Chinese integrate their ideas about tourism into conservation policies and programs in the parks we visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theme 3: Environmental Ethics<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We will be visiting a park in a Tibetan cultural area and four parks in Han Chinese-dominated areas, one of which (Emei Shan) is a sacred mountain in Han Chinese Buddhism. On Emei Shan we will spend the night at a monastery and in Jiuzhaigou we will stay at a homestay run by a Tibetan family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These investigations will be firmly situated within the specific cultural context of the regions of Sichuan that we visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Important Information to Know<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Safety and Security<\/h3>\n\n\n\n