ABSTRACT

In this chapter, I will discuss how Chinese immigrant women do family as part of their project of making their home in Hong Kong under the particular historical framework of immigration into Hong Kong. Between 2002 and 2007, I interviewed 31 women who came from Mainland China to Hong Kong between 1945 and 1997 about their subjective experience in settling down in Hong Kong. 1 I argue that, to become dignified Hong Kong residents, Chinese immigrant women are obligated to support a productive family and play the accepted role of a good immigrant woman. 2 The women I interviewed linked family with their sense of home in Hong Kong. For them, the domestic home is an important site where the sense of geopolitical home is also made. This sense of home is built on the woman’s recognition of her accomplishments in society while facing hard times as an immigrant and as a woman. During this research, I observed complex generational and class differences, but I will examine the nine interviews that I did with lower-class married immigrant women for a more focused discussion.