Book contents
- Reviews
- Homesick Nation
- Homesick Nation
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Key Dates in Contemporary Heyang’s Development
- 1 Introduction
- 2 A Walk through Heyang
- 3 From the Local to National, the Personal to Civilizational
- 4 Embedded Migration, Innate Xiangchou
- 5 Rural Return
- 6 ‘Back Down to the Countryside’
- 7 Conclusion
- Epilogue
- Bibliography
- Index
7 - Conclusion
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2025
Book contents
- Reviews
- Homesick Nation
- Homesick Nation
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Key Dates in Contemporary Heyang’s Development
- 1 Introduction
- 2 A Walk through Heyang
- 3 From the Local to National, the Personal to Civilizational
- 4 Embedded Migration, Innate Xiangchou
- 5 Rural Return
- 6 ‘Back Down to the Countryside’
- 7 Conclusion
- Epilogue
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
This concluding chapter revisits the tour guides discussed in Chapter 4 and explores how they were instructed by representatives of the state to include the term xiangchou into their scripts. The repetition of xiangchou within the old heritage site illustrates the salience of the term, its cultural resonance, as well as its political influence. However, the tour guides’ personal interpretations of xiangchou also demonstrates the way the state’s appropriation of the term had created new forms of alienation: some Heyang locals feel homesick for a hometown they once knew and seems no longer to be. A divide has emerged between the xiangchou that drew urban tourists to Heyang, the xiangchou that locals hold for the Heyang of their childhood, the xiangchou expressed as a form of concern for the future of their hometown, and the xiangchou that the state invoked to implement its policy objectives upon the village.
Keywords
Information
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Homesick NationDevelopment, Migration and Yearning in Rural China, pp. 195 - 211Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
Accessibility standard: WCAG 2.2 AAA
Why this information is here
This section outlines the accessibility features of this content - including support for screen readers, full keyboard navigation and high-contrast display options. This may not be relevant for you.Accessibility Information
The HTML of this chapter
complies with version 2.2 of the
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
(WCAG), offering more comprehensive accessibility measures for a broad range
of users and attains the highest
(AAA)
level of WCAG compliance, optimising the user experience by meeting the most extensive
accessibility guidelines.
Content Navigation
Table of contents navigation
Allows you to navigate directly to chapters, sections, or non‐text items through a linked table of contents, reducing the need for extensive scrolling.
Allows you to navigate directly to chapters, sections, or non‐text items through a linked table of contents, reducing the need for extensive scrolling.
Index navigation
Provides an interactive index, letting you go straight to where a term or subject appears in the text without manual searching.
Provides an interactive index, letting you go straight to where a term or subject appears in the text without manual searching.
Reading Order & Textual Equivalents
Single logical reading order
You will encounter all content (including footnotes, captions, etc.) in a clear, sequential flow, making it easier to follow with assistive tools like screen readers.
You will encounter all content (including footnotes, captions, etc.) in a clear, sequential flow, making it easier to follow with assistive tools like screen readers.
Short alternative textual descriptions
You get concise descriptions (for images, charts, or media clips), ensuring you do not miss crucial information when visual or audio elements are not accessible.
You get concise descriptions (for images, charts, or media clips), ensuring you do not miss crucial information when visual or audio elements are not accessible.
Visualised data also available as non-graphical data
You can access graphs or charts in a text or tabular format, so you are not excluded if you cannot process visual displays.
You can access graphs or charts in a text or tabular format, so you are not excluded if you cannot process visual displays.
Visual Accessibility
Use of colour is not sole means of conveying information
You will still understand key ideas or prompts without relying solely on colour, which is especially helpful if you have colour vision deficiencies.
You will still understand key ideas or prompts without relying solely on colour, which is especially helpful if you have colour vision deficiencies.
Use of high contrast between text and background colour
You benefit from high‐contrast text, which improves legibility if you have low vision or if you are reading in less‐than‐ideal lighting conditions.
You benefit from high‐contrast text, which improves legibility if you have low vision or if you are reading in less‐than‐ideal lighting conditions.