Chinese ‘snowbirds’ in tropical Sanya: retirement migration and the production of translocal families

ABSTRACT

Family plays a large part in retirement migration, exerting great influence on migrants’ decision-making and post-migration experience. However, extant studies direct limited attention to the issue of the family, and usually perceive it as stable and positive during retirement migration. In contrast, this paper explores the dynamism and complexity of the family, which is continuously negotiated in time-spaces and functions as both enabling and constraining factors in the elderly mobilities. Drawing on the study of Chinese ‘snowbirds’ (Houniao), this paper analyses the construction of translocal families through retirement migration. It scrutinises the negotiation of intergenerational relations and spousal care, and the diverse implications of familial ties and obligations on the Houniao’s motivation for and experience of seasonal lifestyles. By exploring the elderly movement and consumption-led migration of the Houniao, this paper also enhances our understanding of the family restructuring stimulated by population mobilities in contemporary China.

KEYWORDS:

• Later life migration
• eldercare
• intergenerational relations
• mobilities
• ageing
• China

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our sincere thanks to three anonymous referees for their valuable comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Source: ‘Report on Floating Population in China 2016’ by the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

2 Hainan province, established in 1988, consists of Hainan Island, some archipelagos and the vast sea area around them in the South China Sea.

3 Another tropical Chinese city is Sansha, which was set up in 2012 and located in the South China Sea.

4 WeChat is the most popular multi-purpose social media app in China. It enables text and voice message, video call, mobile payment, and social networking.

5 Haikou is the capital city of Hainan province.

6 Sanya bay is located at the southwest of the city and close to the downtown area. It is an important tourist site and a major public leisure centre in Sanya.

7 Dadonghai Scenic Area is a popular tourist site in Sanya; it is around four kilometre away from the urban centre.

Additional information

Funding

This work is funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 41901165], China Postdoctoral Science Foundation [grant number 2019M653259], and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities [grant number 18wkpy43].