Community Heritage Linking Place and Mobility: A Case Study of "Bangbei" in Ethnic Bai Villages of Yunnan Province, China

Is there any kind of community heritage that links individuals and homes within the context of increasing mobility? In this study, the unique Bangbei system of the Bai ethnic group in Dianbei District of Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China is examined. In-depth interviews have been employed to assess the evolution of Bangbei and the dynamic nature of its development. We find that Bangbei has become an important "place-making" tool for linking people and their "homes", thus serving as a spatially unbounded place-based community heritage mechanism that sees community as not only place-bound, but as increasingly dispersed and mobile. This case prompts us to rethink the spatial boundedness of particular community heritages and their role in making and maintaining placeness in the context of increasing globalization and associated mobility. Thinking about Bangbei helps us conceptualize community heritage in a more spatially expansive and unbounded way.