Tourist development can reverse the shrinking of traditional villages in the remote rural areas in China, and can even attract outside entrepreneurs to move in. However, how these outside entrepreneurs interact with the local communities has seldom been explored, and therefore, this study will use Hongcun, a historical village and world heritage site in China, as a case study, and apply observation and interview methods to explore outside entrepreneurs' integration into the local community in such aspects as spatial integration, business cooperation, social interaction, participation in community affairs, social identity and attitude toward tourism development. This study finds that in Hongcun, outside entrepreneurs have a low degree of integration into the local community, and that this low level of integration is the result of both political marginalization of the outsiders and their comparative advantage in economic and knowledge capital. Suggestions are also provided.
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