The Experiences and Lessons of Developing Characteristic Cultural Towns in the Western Sichuan Region

The characteristic cultural towns in the western Sichuan region, as carriers of ethnic traditional culture, display rich cultural features and industrial forms. However, a series of problems have emerged during their development. This paper analyzes successful cases and lessons learned from failure through research on several typical cultural towns in western Sichuan. Successful examples, such as Anren Ancient Town, have attracted numerous tourists and external investments due to their profound cultural heritage, abundant tourism resources, and international perspective. On the other hand, Longtan Water Town, as a failed case, despite heavy investments in the urban core area, struggled with a lack of cultural connotation, unreasonable industrial planning, and a deteriorating commercial environment. This led to a small number of visitors, business withdrawals, and ultimately, an inability to survive. The article summarizes the experiences and lessons from the development of characteristic towns in western Sichuan and suggests improvements in cultural integration, industrial diversification, commercial planning, and sustainable development for future cultural town construction.