Displacement, emplacement and the lifestyles of Chinese ‘snowbirds’ and local residents in tropical Sanya

Abstract

This paper examines the lifestyle migration of Houniao (‘snowbirds’), who are mostly retirees from north China. Drawing on the case of Sanya, a tropical city, it explores the emplacement of the Houniao and the displacement of local elders, and interrogates how everyday practices and contested meanings assigned to lifestyles are embedded into the reconstruction of their linkages with place. The Houniao enjoy privileged status and their mobile life is considered progressive and modern. They experience alienation in Sanya due to cultural differences and their disinterest in integration, but facilitate their emplacement through the reproduction of familiar sociocultural networks at the beach during everyday leisure routines. In contrast, the traditional life of local residents is deemed passive and outdated by the Houniao and the local government. Local elders constitute a minority in seaside recreation and, despite their host identity, constantly feel a sense of displacement. This paper contributes to understanding lifestyle migration by unpacking lifestyle practices and their relationship to place, something which has not been fully examined in extant studies. Its focus on the Chinese Houniao also enriches the analysis of the multiplicity of lifestyle migration and internal Chinese migration.

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