Reimagining mural heritage: tourism-driven space reconfiguration through genuine, replica, and digital regeneration

Tourism has been widely practiced at heritage sites as a modern function of heritage resources to reveal and spread heritage values. Taking Fahai Temple Mural in Beijing as a case, this study adopts a qualitative approach to examine how tourism development shapes the spatial and functional configuration of fragile mural heritage. Data were collected between December 2022 and December 2023 from six rounds of fieldwork and multiple secondary sources. Key findings reveal that: (1) tourism, driven by top-down policies and technological innovation, plays a catalytic yet contested role in balancing mural conservation with growing visitor demand; (2) the murals have moved from on-site conservation to collotype reproduction and now to digital regenerations, with each medium reframing their meanings and accessibility; and (3) the three-tiered configuration of genuine, replica and digital forms enhances knowledge dissemination and visitor engagement but also risks diluting authenticity, commodifying cultural values and generating tensions between community stakeholders and tourists. The study underscores the interplay between tourism, heritage conservation, and technology, offering a framework for understanding the integration of cultural heritage into tourism.