In contemporary Chinese, the local as a historical category, bendi (本地), referring to local
society and signalling an intimacy of belonging, can be contrasted with the local as a …

This article analyzes the contemporary salience of yuanshengtai, a Chinese concept that
valorizes core features similar to those of “indigeneity,” including cultural distinctiveness and …

Interplay between two constructions of territorial identity shaped the development of Chinese
urban nationalism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. One construction …

Remote Homeland, Recovered Borderland addresses a long-ignored issue in the existing
studies of community construction: How does the past failure of an ethnic people to maintain …

Shanghai and Taipei, two of Greater China's most vibrant cities, increasingly vie with one
another for recognition as international hubs and regional economic powers. Physically …

The massive spontaneous population movement, from villages to towns, from towns to cities,
from one county to another county, and from one province to another province, is part of the …

Located immediately north of Hong Kong, Shenzhen is China's most successful special
economic zone (SEZ). Commonly known as the “social laboratory” of reform and opening …

Twentieth century China has seen local societies undergo unprecedented transformations
accompanied by a remarkable continuity in state practice. In this path-breaking study of two …

In this chapter I discuss four distinct visions of China's national space, as revealed in recent
debates over economic development, political legitimation, and cultural production in …

Identities based upon place have long been central to urban Chinese society and politics. 1
Unlike the European or American city-dweller, who meets a person for the first time with the …