Love to the eternity : eco-tourism design along Qinghai-Tibet railway

Abstract

Transportation is an integral par t of the tourism industry. It is largely due to the improvement of transportation that tourism has expanded. The impacts on the ecology, degradation of destination sites, tourist experience, and economy has called for a better management of this resource. Transportation can be divided into two parts. One is the mobility infrastructure such as railway and highway, connecting and sometimes dividing the tourism destination. And another is site infrastructure which is in the tourism destination and guides the tourists to explore the place. Few places are as globally significant as the Tibetan Plateau, writes Daniel J Miller. Understanding this means looking at the region from a holistic, ecological standpoint. It has huge biodiversity resource and stores a lot of ice on the mountain. Religious affect this area so that it can remain in the harmony of the people and the nature. The Qinghai-Tibet railway is built for the policy or economic reason after is construction finished in 1st of July, 2006. This transportation greatly changed this area. The tourists’ trend increases 30% in Qinghai and 40% in Tibet in 2007. The income of the tourism also increased. Then the conflict occurred, on the ecological aspect: the wildlife, the One is the stepping destroy by the tourist which may cause soil erosion or vegetation destroy. And the social aspect, tourism reform the local people’s life, increases their income but also challenges the line of their religious faith. The stations along the railway became my focus point. They were like the start point, we can see the government intention, and the economic opportunity. In the meanwhile, it could also be the pollution resource and damage beginning. We can’t just simply stop people from going there. Since the railway is just like a window, advertising the beautiful landscape. If the station can’t access, people will find another way to access, in an uncontrolled way. So it is also an opportunity for expressing a new definition of tourism. Education, love, ecotourism. To make the place love for the people, so that they will have the ownership, they want this landscape keeps forever, so that it be an eternity. My thesis is trying to reach a more sustainable way to develop tourism in this very sensitive area, to create a couple of well-designed station stops which does strict (no access) protection for these areas. My intention is to create a system that combines education and the exploration in tourism.