THREE TOURIST SITES in Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province, lost their 3-A tourism rating last week because of poor management. Guangming Daily commented on Thursday:

Ostensibly the three Xi'an scenic spots, including the Emperor Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum and a museum recreating "the eight wonders of the world", were disqualified for improper management. They were also criticized for having unhelpful information centers, poor display captions in English and for having replicas of the Terracotta Warriors that were painted like creepy-looking clowns.

The disqualified scenic spots are not allowed to reapply for their rating for at least a year, but even then they should not be given back the accreditation unless their managers show full respect for the country's cultural heritage. Indeed, being stripped of the 3-A rating was more like a warning about their careless exploitation of history.

Even if the tourist sites had made clear that their exhibitions were "artistic recreations" in advance, they should still have presented visitors with something more meaningful and educational than primitive wax copies of the originals, which date back to the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC). In other words, they simply do not deserve their reputations as tourist attractions that present the nation's past if they have neither authentic relics nor the willingness to respect history in their displays.

There are many of their kind across the country. Such deceptive historical theme parks are usually part of a network in which local travel agencies lure tourists to pay to the parks for a share of the parks' gains. All parties concerned must be held accountable for their involvement in such a grubby business.

On their part, the tourism authorities at all levels need to be very careful before they grant tourist attractions the A-class rating. They should make sure the accreditation goes to those that take the nation's historical heritage seriously, not some speculative business projects, which are bound to damage the reputation of local tourism in the long run.