ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the black box of locality along the Lancang River, structured by institutional frameworks and a nexus of intangible goods. The empirical evidence shows that the concept of the commons is integrated and includes physical resources as tangible commons, culture as intangible commons and public goods as institutional commons. The Lancang hydropower development involves 39 counties or prefectures, with a total population of 12.453 million. The Lancang basin is the most remote area in all China. Lu and Zhang studied the population in Lancang valley and described it as an 'inefficient agriculture-maintaining population model'. Restructuring rural society has become the major role of rural governance. The composition of rural society is in a process of differentiating, flowing and diversifying. Classification of culture and ethnicity is comparable to the production process of the nation-state. Ethnicity and locality present themselves better when there is no risk or potential risk of separating people from the nation-state and main culture.
