ABSTRACT
This book began with a quotation from a letter to the editor from a Chinese teenager in Sweden. Her Chinese identity has little to do with the matters of the overseas Chinese communities in Europe, for she experiences an adolescent's existentialist problem of belonging both here and there, of having a sense of being rooted somewhere other than her class mates. She may grow up to find most of the Chinatown symbols of minor importance, she may become a Swedish woman with a personal interest in and special knowledge of China, or she may move to China in search of her roots. She may find a career in overseas Chinese associations and the ethnic economy; or she may find herself in opposition to them. From her perspective there are many options that can be realised. Her future is not defined by the existence of Chinese identity or an overseas Chinese community, and it is only partly influenced by the ethnic origin of her parents.
