Unhomely Life

Xiaobo Su is a Professor of Urban and Regional Development in the Department of Geography at the University of Oregon. He is the co-author of The Politics of Heritage Tourism in China: A View from Lijiang and serves on the editorial boards of Geopolitics and Tourism Tribute. His research investigates China’s transformation from a planned economy to a market economy, focused on urban and regional development, tourism, migration, urban entrepreneurialism, and border politics.

• Preface and Acknowledgments ixNotes on Fieldwork xiv1. Introduction: From Xiangtu China to Unhomely China 1Modernity as a Deal 10Two Dimensions of Uneven Mobilities 15Lijiang Old Town: The Case 19Structure of the Book 27Notes 292. A Sense of Home in China: Then and Now 31Home: An Ensemble of Representations and Experiences 32A Sense of Home in Traditional Chinese Culture 40Home as a Destination for Return 41Home as a Balanced Way of Living 46Modernization and Loss of Home Feelings in Post- Mao China 50Unhomely Life: An Analytic Framework 59Notes 653. Lifestyle Migration and the (Un)making of an Ideal Home 68Representing Lijiang as an Ideal Home 70Making Home in its Material and Lived Aspects 75Unmaking Home: The Spatial Politics of Belonging and Alienation 83External Pressure for Home Unmaking 83Internal Struggle between Here and There 86Divergence between Busyness and Slowness 89Conclusion: The Ambivalence of an Ideal Home 92Notes 954. The Act of Retreat: Tourism, Loafing, and the Consumption of Home 96Solitude and a Natural Way of Living 98Loafing through Socialization 105Regarding Lijiang Old Town as a Home 109Being Unhomely in a Mobile World 113Conclusion 117Notes 1195. Displacing Native Residents: Money, Meaning, and the Remaking of Home 120A Sense of Home in the Town 122A True Love for Courtyard Houses 123A Close- knit Community in the Town 125From Familiar to Strange: In- situ Displacement 129Age Difference: Departure or Stay 134Making and Remaking Home in Daily Life: Four Stories 140Story 1: Making a Home for Tourists 141Story 2: Promoting Naxi Culture for Profit 143Story 3: The Life Cycle of a New Lijiang Local 145Story 4: Being at Home Forever 149Conclusion 153Note 1556. Hometown Babies: Immobility and Lijiang Locals' Struggles for Home 156Speed and Slowness: The Supply of Homely Service to the Old Town 158Guesthouse A'Jie and the Commodification of Domestic Work 158Delivery A'Ge and Time Discipline 161Freelance Workers for Tourists 164Free Time, Away from Lijiang Old Town 166Pain and Joy: Embracing Hometown in Lijiang 169The Shadow of Patriarchal Society 169In Celebration of Hometown Babies 172Stay and Departure: The Longing for Settlement 176Conclusion 182Notes 1857. Homemaking in a Relentless World 186The Politics of Homemaking in Lijiang 188Remembering Home in China: By Whom and for What? 195Being Unhomely in Modern Times 200Notes 205References 206Index 221