Integration and Innovation Mechanisms of Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection and Tourism Development Under China's Rural Revitalisation Strategy: A Convergent Mixed‐Methods Multi‐Case Study

ABSTRACT The systematic integration of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) protection with tourism‐led rural revitalisation in China remains analytically underexplored, particularly the mechanisms reconciling cultural preservation with economic development at community level. Drawing on a convergent mixed‐methods design, this study combines a multi‐case qualitative inquiry (47 interviews, 68 field‐observation sessions and policy‐document analysis across five Chinese cases) with a survey of 124 heritage‐tourism enterprises, integrated through joint displays. A four‐dimension Functional–Dynamic–Innovation–Feedback (FDIF) framework is proposed and refined, comprising functional integration, dynamic adaptation, innovation activation and feedback regulation; its distinctive contribution couples a critical‐heritage reading of authenticity and governance with measurable indicators. Sustainable integration is associated with community veto capacity, hybrid digital–analogue transmission and equity‐oriented benefit‐sharing, whereas over‐commercialisation, distributional skew (tourism‐income Gini reaching 0.48 in corporate‐managed sites) and commodification risk recur. The findings carry transferable implications for heritage‐tourism policy and Sustainable Development Goals 8.9 and 11.4.