Hongshui Village In Hainan
Location: Hongshui, Hainan, China
Mission Statement
The China Exploration and Research Society has been working on preserving intellectual and material culture all over china since its inception in 1986. In 2007, when Wong How Man and his CERS team visited the Hongshui village where the Li people are living, there was hardly anyone who could still play the indigenous instruments of their ethnic minority. Throughout the Hainan Island there are a total of 1.2 million Li people. The majority have changed their traditional lifestyles and become integrated into modern Chinese society. Not willing to see the traditional culture fading, CERS launched a project to preserve this traditional village of the Li people. A team made up of 17 people, including more than a dozen staff members, outside experts from the UK, Switzerland and the US, and a documentary team assembled to film the vanishing lifestyle. The goal was to preserve select thatch-roofed houses otherwise destined for demolition and create an exhibition centre for traditional handicrafts and films, documenting everyday activities of the Li people.
Activities of Organisation
The CERS team reached Hongshui village just before its demolition in March 2007, when the government planned to replace the traditional “makeshift” houses with new concrete versions. After appealing against the destruction of the Li people’s architecture and traditional thatched roof building techniques, the team managed to convince officials to preserve the houses of the disintegrating culture of the Li people. CERS would spearhead the preservation and restoration effort by developing alternative uses for up to 20 houses. Consequently after two years of trips back and forth, and help from interns, nine houses were restored. Three were developed into villa-like houses and six in the traditional thatched roof style. Later, one of these houses would become a small theatre showing documentary films which focus on a number of topics, from eclipsing culture and tradition to documenting the socio-economic changes’ impact on the villagers.
Consensus Community Perspective
The CERS team has restored the architecture of the Li people and transformed some buildings for research, artistic or business purposes. In the future the team plans to create a indigenous handicraft centre in one of the thatched roof buildings. This would give the Li people an income generating opportunity that encourages them to retain and utilise their traditional craft skills. This fits perfectly The Himalayan consensus’ principle compassionate capitalism, stimulating the locals to become custodians of their own culture. Building upon both tradition and modernity, innovation and preservation the CERS team has given the Hongshui village and its people a new lease on life.
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