Capital's tourism authority calmly handles dispute

IN AN OPEN LETTER signed and posted on the home page of the China Ethnic Culture Park website after the Beijing tourist attraction was removed from the list of 4A scenic areas in December 2016, Wang Ping, the director, said the problem and the facts highlighted were "seriously inconsistent" and accused the relevant departments of being irresponsible. The letter was recently removed from the website. Southern Metropolis Daily commented on Wednesday:

China Ethnic Culture Park came top of the list of 367 Class A tourist sites that were instructed to take remedial actions after government inspections in December. The inspection found many problems including a high risk of fire along with a shortage of firefighting equipment.

The reaction from the park to investigation findings was quite unusual. Wang wrote in a letter posted on the home page of park's website that there was no evidence to support the findings and that the high-level 4A ranking "is only a reference". He said the park would continue to operate as usual.

Instead of overreacting, the municipal tourism authority responded by saying the findings of the investigation are corroborated by more than 2,000 photographs.

Even though the scenic area and the tourism authorities are locked in dispute, it is necessary to jump out of the excitement and view the situation from a broader perspective.

Facing the open rejection of the findings of the investigation, the tourism authorities have shown their respect for the right of the culture park to put its side of the story. However, they also adhere to the conclusions of their investigation and are willing to back up those conclusions with evidence. This attitude reflects their respect for the boundaries of power. In fact, because of this, the situation has not escalated.