This book describes the mechanisms by which the PRC state “asserts cultural authority over an increasingly mobile population” (p. 3). Chapter one, which discusses internal migration in reform China, focuses on the changing function of the household registration (hukou) system. Given the author's focus on state hegemony, the analysis seeks to show the nature of state surveillance under the changing circumstances of the household registration system and internal migration. The state assertion of cultural authority is not only internal but also overseas. This is described in chapter two, which deals with international migration from China. One indication of this, the author argues, is the Chinese state authorities' role in encouraging new migrants to form regional and global federations of Chinese associations. While this is true, it should also be noted that most Chinese migrants still see themselves as belonging to China – they are not just Chinese overseas, without agency, being mobilized by the Chinese state. Similarly the active use of the internet reflects a new generation of young migrants; their transnational connection to the Chinese homeland needs to be seen in the context of the modern transnational era, not necessarily in response to the Chinese state's call for patriotism. The author uses the example of the Central Television's Spring Festival Gala to give the impression of the PRC government's global reach to re-connect the Chinese around the world to their “roots” in China. Those who are familiar with China know that this annual programme is more for China's home audience, although there is awareness that many Chinese overseas also watch this programme, at the end of which there is usually a New Year greeting to quanqiu Huaren (Chinese all over the world). Instead of the author using his rhetoric to relate the programme to his theory, it could be more objectively analysed in its national and global contexts.
In chapter three on tourism in contemporary China, Nyíri analyses the state's regulatory role over tourism management and representation. As to managing tourists abroad, the author points out that the Chinese tourism abroad is run by local Chinese travel agents and tour guides (p. 71), assuming that they are sympathetic to the Chinese state or are inclined to be influenced by the PRC government. As in most of the book, the chapter comprises general descriptions and superficial assumptions, as well as rhetoric such as Chinese tourists (some? most?) having “liberating experience of travelling abroad on equal terms with Westerners and Japanese” (p. 76). Chapter four, on the usefulness of mobility, is a long chapter that discusses how mobility produces modern citizens, with Chinese entrepreneurs and workers abroad extending the Chinese government's civilizing mission (p. 124). The Chinese government is of course not short of official rhetoric, which Nyíri cites liberally, along with all kinds of sources in this chapter, finally describing a “growing global Chinese evangelical movement” (p. 128), and stating that “the sentiment that the Chinese people must tomorrow take over the mission of modernizing and civilizing the world … is a widespread element of Chinese nationalism” (p. 128).
Having discussed the usefulness of mobility, chapter five discusses its danger and how the state disciplines the traveller. The arguments are very general, trying to show the state's civilizing role over market forces and to argue that “Chinese tourists seem to ‘play along’ because they consider participating in performances of the nation serious business” (p. 143). In chapter six Nyíri continues to provide selective examples to show the experiences of mobility across borders. Chinese citizens are very conscious of their government's control of their movement overseas. These as well as many governments' strict checks of Chinese passports and suspicion of Chinese travellers are really complicated issues that need in-depth analysis. It is rather sweeping for the author to assert that Chinese migrants “acutely perceive the frustration of their movement as yet another attempt by an envious West to frustrate the modernization of China” (p. 154), even if there are a few individuals who say so. There are other examples of sweeping illustrations, including the “elaborate farces” of border crossings at Hekou bordering Vietnam; more rigorous analysis would provide a more balanced scenario.
Chapter seven concludes the book with a discussion of mobility and cultural control. The author sees cultural control everywhere, from phone card to media technology to tourist brochures. The Chinese state hegemony and cultural control of Chinese mobility seek to unify the Chinese subjects “within an interpretative framework of a national Chinese modernity” (p. 164) and place the migrants “within the officially endorsed interpretations of globally mobile Chineseness” (p. 164). For readers not used to this kind of rhetoric scholarship, if it may be so called, it is almost impossible to understand such a statement as: “The tourist spreads civilization through consumption; the migrant, through production, though the two are, of course, intertwined” (p. 165). Overall the book is better read by those who are already familiar with China to appreciate the theoretical discussion while at the same time being able to place the specious analyses in perspective.
