ABSTRACT
Ning Village is located near the municipality of Yinchuan, the provincial capital of Ningxia Ethnic Autonomous Region. Ning Village had been a typical inland rural community economically reliant on farming, with a mix of outmigration and local petty businesses, and it had been among the best irrigated areas in the region. Along with urbanization, rental business became a reliable source of income, whereas other small commercial businesses were said to have limited profitability due to the stiffer competition in urban commercial and service sectors. Land development projects had given some hope to villagers by generating more job opportunities and shifting the urban-rural boundary. Ning Village had shared with other inland villages in exporting migrant labor for nonagricultural employment opportunities while keeping a foot in farming and sideline businesses before land development. Both men and women tended to evaluate their fate not just at the individual level, but in terms of families and communities.
