The Chinese state uses cultural heritage as a source of power by linking it to political and economic goals, but heritage discourse has at the same time encouraged new actors to appropriate the discourse to protect their own traditions. This book focuses on that contested nature of heritage, especially through the lens of individuals, local communities, religious groups, and heritage experts. It examines the effect of the internet on heritage-isation, as well as how that process affects different groups of people.

Christina Maags is lecturer in Chinese Politics, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.Marina Svensson is Professor of Modern China Studies at Lund University and does research related to human rights, cultural heritage, journalism, digital society and the Internet in China.

Acknowledgments Mapping the Chinese Heritage Regime: Ruptures, Governmentality, and Agency Marina Svensson and Christina MaagsSECTION I: Re-imagining the past: Contested memories and contemporary issues Telling stories in a borderland: the evolving life of Ma Bufang’s Official Residence Susette CookeFrom a Symbol of Imperialistic Penetration to a Site of Cultural Heritage: The ‘Italian-Style Exotic District’ in TianjinHong ZhangHistoric Urban Landscape in Beijing: The Gulou Project and Its Contested Memories Florence Graezer Bideau and Haiming YanSECTION II: Celebrating and experiencing the cultural heritage: Top-down and bottom-up processes and negotiations Creating a Race to the Top: Hierarchies and Competition within the Chinese ICH Transmitters System Christina MaagsHeritagizing the Chaozhou Hungry Ghosts Festival in Hong Kong Selina ChanRecognition and Misrecognition: The Politics of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Southwest China Tami BlumenfieldHoly Heritage: Identity and Authenticity in a Tibetan Village Sonja LaukkanenSECTION III: Public debates in heritage work: Possibilities and limitations for plural voices and new forms of engagements Heritage Visions of Mayor Geng Yanbo: Re-creating the City of Datong Jinze CuiRevitalization of Zhizhu Temple: Policies, Actors, and Debates Lui TamHeritage 2.0: Maintaining Affective Engagements with the Local Heritage in Taishun Marina Svensson