Where China Meets Southeast Asia: Social & Cultural Change in the Border Regions

This book provides readers with the first survey of social conditions since the opening of the borders between China and mainland Southeast Asia in the early 1990s, which saw radical changes in the economic policies of the various states involved, in particular, China, Vietnam, and Laos. Each chapter provides a close-up survey of a particular area and problem, but cumulatively they provide an invaluable general picture of social and cultural change in the border regions where China meets Southeast Asia. Front Matter....Pages i-ix Introduction: The Disappearing Frontier?....Pages 1-6 Where Nothing Is as It Seems: Between Southeast China and Mainland Southeast Asia in the “Post-Socialist” Era....Pages 7-27 The Southern Chinese Borders in History....Pages 28-50 Ecology Without Borders....Pages 51-71 Negotiating Central, Provincial, and County Policies: Border Trading in South China....Pages 72-97 The Hmong of the Southeast Asia Massif: Their Recent History of Migration....Pages 98-121 Regional Trade in Northwestern Laos: An Initial Assessment of the Economic Quadrangle....Pages 122-144 Lue across Borders: Pilgrimage and the Muang Sing Reliquary in Northern Laos....Pages 145-161 Transformation of Jinghong, Xishuangbanna, PRC....Pages 162-182 The Hell of Good Intentions: Some Preliminary Thoughts on Opium in the Political Ecology of the Trade in Girls and Women....Pages 183-203 Cross-Border Mobility and Social Networks: Akha Caravan Traders....Pages 204-221 Cross-Border Links between Muslims in Yunnan and Northern Thailand: Identity and Economic Networks....Pages 222-235 Trade Activities of the Hoa along the Sino-Vietnamese Border....Pages 236-253 Cross-Border Categories: Ethnic Chinese and the Sino-Vietnamese Border at Mong Cai....Pages 254-276 Regional Development and Cross-Border Cultural Linkage: The Case of a Vietnamese Community in Guangxi, China....Pages 277-311 Women and Social Change along the Vietnam-Guangxi Border....Pages 312-327 Back Matter....Pages 328-346 Cover 1 Half-Title 2 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Contributors 8 Introduction: The Disappearing Frontier? 11 1. Where Nothing Is as It Seems: Between Southeast China and Mainland Southeast Asia in the "Post-Socialist" Era 17 2. The Southern Chinese Borders in History 38 3. Ecology Without Borders 61 4. Negotiating Central, Provincial, and County Policies: Border Trading in South China 82 5. The Hmong of the Southeast Asia Massif: Their Recent History of Migration 108 6. Regional Trade in Northwestern Laos: An Initial Assessment of the Economic Quadrangle 132 7. Lue across Borders: Pilgrimage and the Muang Sing Reliquary in Northern Laos 155 8. Transformation of Jinghong, Xishuangbanna, PRC 172 9. The Hell of Good Intentions: Some Preliminary Thoughts on Opium in the Political Ecology of the Trade in Girls and Women 193 10. Cross-Border Mobility and Social Networks: Akha Caravan Traders 214 11. Cross- Border Links between Muslims in Yunnan and Northern Thailand: Identity and Economic Networks 232 12. Trade Activities of the Hoa along the Sino-Vietnamese Border 246 13. Cross-Border Categories: Ethnic Chinese and the Sino-Vietnamese Border at Mong Cai 264 14. Regional Development and Cross-Border Cultural Linkage: The Case of a Vietnamese Community in Guangxi, China 287 15. Women and Social Change along the Vietnam-Guangxi Border 322 Index 338 Comprises 15 papers which explore social and cultural changes in the border regions between China and mainland Southeast Asia since the opening of the border in the early 1990s. Provides a general perspective on the history and recent development in the region and examines specific areas and problems. Includes chapters on cross-border trade and mobility and the development of social networks and cultural linkages China--Foreign economic relations--Indochina. Indochina--Foreign economic relations--China. China--Foreign economic relations--Burma.Burma--Foreign economic relations--China.China--Boundaries--Indochina.Indochina--Boundaries--China. China--Boundaries--Burma. Burma--Boundaries--China.Jointly published in New York, N.Y. : St. Martin's Press, c2000.