Ever-since Mao’s cultural revolution Han china has maintained a bizarre relationship to their cultural and religious heritage. In recent years a landslide-like pivot in politics has made them excessively value their cultural sites. Ridiculously inflating some micro sites and transforming everything into some kind of surreal amusement park.Idiot proof walkways, strict crowd guidance, do and don’t signs on every meter, food and souvenir stands even inside the historical buildings.They dont refrain from tearing down the whole blocks, resettling the people to to rebuild an ancient “Ming”? city from scratch. Like in the case of Datong. In the result everything looks fascinatingly fake.
Add in ever consuming chinese middle class families buying every piece of junk food and souvenir they can get a hold on. Waving around their selfie sticks in front of every historically looking site.
You end up in Disneyland.