(LI SHIGONG) 

Huangshan, a city in east China's Anhui Province, was named after the world-famous scenic spot Huangshan Mountain, which is known for its beautiful natural landscape of uniquely-shaped rocks, pine trees, cloud scenery as well as the many local waterfalls and hot springs.

The city name Huangshan, though, was not adopted until the late 1980s. Beforehand, the local region had been known as Huizhou, a name that dated back more than 1,000 years.

In 1987, the State Council, China's cabinet, approved the local authorities' request to replace the name of Huizhou with that of Huangshan in a bid to increase visitor numbers to the area by taking advantage of Huangshan Mountain's fame.

But, besides being a geographical name, the word Huizhou also carries a cultural legacy that encompasses diverse aspects—from philosophy, painting and calligraphy to the business models of local merchants, and even cuisine. Stories about Huizhou and about famous people from the region have been passed down through local generations.

Today, calls for reversing the change are growing stronger. Li Hui, a well-known writer, recently gave a lecture appealing for the name Huizhou to be restored. And, the first mayor of the city after its conversion from Huizhou to Huangshan, Cui Zhikang, has echoed Li's appeal, saying that the time is right to restore the original name. In support of the change, the argument put forward is that the original aim of boosting the local economy has been achieved in the intervening years.

Restoring a place's name, however, is not straightforward. It will involve interaction and coordination between many government departments and will also cost a lot of money to advertise the change and establish a new identity system, such as replacing the stamps and plaques of government departments with new ones. Whether or not local people feel happy about the reversal is unsure, and no one can ensure that the local region will regain its cultural significance simply by reverting to its former identity. In any case, people from various walks of life have expressed their views on the proposal.

Preserving history 

Wang Zhongdi (China Youth Daily): Huangshan Mountain was already very well-known 30 years ago, but it was rarely visited at that time. The city of Huangshan was named after the mountain with a view to developing the local tourism industry. Whether the move has actually contributed to local tourism remains, of course, an open question. But one thing is certain: The small number of tourists at that time was related to the overall underdevelopment of China's hospitality industry, poor traffic conditions and low levels of income. Nowadays, Huangshan Mountain is crowded with tourists, and the original reason to rename the city Huangshan no longer exists.

Presently, a consensus has been reached that the name Huizhou would better represent the region's traditional culture. So, whether the city should change its name back is actually a choice between economic costs and cultural inheritance. Changing a city's name not only requires input from the Central Government, the local municipal government also has to go through procedures with approval from the provincial government and the State Council. Various departments and sectors will become involved. In addition, Huangshan has supplanted Huizhou for more than 30 years, and many local people are used to the current name. So, the question arises, how can they be helped to accept the "new Huizhou?"

Since the 1980s, many places in China have changed their names for the sake of boosting economic growth. Some have reused historic city names, some have adopted attractive names like Huangshan, and others have used newly invented names. The last two cases actually hinder the passing down of traditional culture, and those places involved are the ones whose names most need restoring.

Huizhou's name has been replaced for a fairly short period of time compared with the region's long history. Many people are still familiar with Huizhou, which still exists as the name of a district in Huangshan City. The proposed name restoration is necessary.

Whether Huizhou will come back to replace Huangshan or not, it is already a thorny topic. This case can serve, however, as an example to warn against attempts to change city names to satisfy short-term interests.

Mao Kaiyun (www.southcn.com): In order to bolster local tourism, the city of Huizhou was renamed Huangshan in the 1980s. Some say that the change was reasonable at that time for the sake of boosting tourism and the local economy, while others argue that the renaming has left irrevocable scars on the hearts of those who love Huizhou's culture.

The name Huizhou was first recorded more than 1,000 years ago, so it predates by a long way the adoption of the name Huangshan. Moreover, Huizhou culture, which encapsulates significant local characteristics, had been studied by many cultural experts during the past half century.

The change of Huizhou's name to Huangshan has fully exploited the potential value for local tourism and has, thereby, boosted local revenues. Huizhou's great history and culture, however, have been lost. It's no exaggeration to say that the loss outweighs the gain in this case.

Presently, Chinese tourism is in the midst of a golden era, but deep cultural foundations underpin the domestic industry. Without such foundations, the development of tourism cannot be sustainable.

The objective behind changing Huizhou's name has been achieved. The continued usage of the name Huangshan is inappropriate, and it's time to revert it back to Huizhou.

No more changes 

Lu Chen (www.cnhubei.com): The dispute about whether Huangshan should be changed back to Huizhou has continued all along.

Apparently, the decision to change Huizhou into Huangshan was taken to boost local tourism, as Huangshan Mountain is more famous than Huizhou. At the time, history and cultural heritage were not taken into consideration. Today, though, the local economy has taken off, and cultural heritage seems increasingly important.

The question is, will the old name Huizhou really help the city reclaim its cultural prestige and contribute to cultural inheritance?

The name Huangshan has been used for nearly 30 years. Currently, whether Huizhou or Huangshan weighs more heavily in local people's hearts is quite debatable.

A span of 30 years accounts for more than one third of most people's lives, which is a period long enough for a new cultural identity to grow in their hearts. To revert to Huizhou is to show respect to history, but what about the cultural significance that has taken shape in the past three decades? Is it totally worthless?

Have the locals been asked whether they want the name restored to Huizhou? Even if the name finally changes back to Huizhou, will this automatically lead to successful cultural inheritance?

Wen Lan (Beijing Times): The name of Huangshan has lasted for 30 years. During this period of time, the city of Huangshan has tried hard to cultivate an image as an internationally renowned travel destination, and local infrastructure and economic development testify to the accomplishment of that objective.

Tracing the cultural origins is not wrong, but it is unwise to do so while ignoring the potentially huge social and administrative costs of name-changing.

The situation nowadays is very different from that in the past. In modern times, changing a city's name would consume a huge amount of public resources. Who will foot the bill? How much will locals benefit from the move? The primary value of a place name is to serve locals in their daily lives. In deciding whether to change such names, certain principles should be employed. Besides discussion, effective and scientific planning is necessary to help avoid wasting public resources on a whim.

Protecting the many historic cities around China, instead of disputing whether to rename Huangshan, would serve much better the cause of preserving cultural heritage.

Copyedited by Chris Surtees

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