ABSTRACT
When China reopened itself and launched economic reforms in 1978, the Chinese government hoped that a synergy could be attained between China and the Chinese diaspora, including those living in Hong Kong.2 It wished that the wealth and expertise of Chinese overseas could be channeled, through different translocal and transnational networks, into the many ancestral villages and towns to help the local economic transformation. The term qiaoxiang (literally sojourners’ homeland) has been adopted in China to refer to certain villages and towns that have a history of migration to Hong Kong, Macao, and other parts of the world. Studies on these localities have been growing (Chen Ta 1939; Douw, Huang and Godley 1999; Wang Benzun 2000; Woon 1984a, 1984b; Zhuang et al. 2000), and this has enriched the literature on Chinese overseas, who are known for their effective business networks and sustainable transnationalism. For the research on qiaoxiang, one needs to differentiate Chinese overseas from Chinese residents in Hong Kong and Macao.3 In this chapter, which is based on the case study of Panyu, in Guangdong Province, I shall show that qiaoxiang regions have different business networks and transnational ties with different Chinese diaspora from different parts of the world.
