traditional Chinese courtyard doors

China’s tourist industry is booming, giving historic towns a new lease of life and a new revenue stream. But, as developers and entrepreneurs move in to create new tourist destinations out of these forgotten places, authenticity, history and some could argue, taste, suffers. This article and film is the story of one American couple who are trying to set a new example. Are they doing justice to the artistic and historical tradition of China or imposing Western ethnocentric ideas of what is appropriate on a nation who knows what it likes and wants more of the same?
This is also a good analogy for the dilemma brands and advertisers face in China. Should local preferences that run contrary to a perceived Western norm be respected as a valid local cultural preference or seen as a backward inclination that needs to be challenged? Making the wrong call could lose you consumer affinity on one hand or thought (and market) leadership on the other.