Two Temples, Three Religions, and a Tourist Attraction Contesting Sacred Space on China's Ethnic Frontier

Huanglong (Yellow Dragon) in northwestern Sichuan province is an old multi ethnic pilgrimage site that has become a UNESCO World Nature Heritage Reserve and a major national tourist attraction since the 1990s. This article focuses on the controversy over the identity and restoration of two major temples in Huanglong and analyzes the interaction of contemporary China's religious revival and the development of tourism. As local state agencies seek to redefine the religious landscape of Huanglong in the service of both state hegemony and the market appeal of ethnic differences, they compete with Han Chinese lay Buddhists and Tibetan and Daoist monastic forces, each of whom take advantage of tourism to further their own religious and ethnic causes.