The Resilient Bond With Zhujiajiao: (Re)making Community in a Chinese Tourism Town

Abstract

This article examines how community has been reinterpreted and remade among local residents in relation to the development of tourism in Zhujiajiao, China. Focusing on the narratives and practices of long-term residents, it was found that people generally maintain a resilient bond with their community in Zhujiajiao despite profound local changes. Drawing on in-depth interviews, the article brings to light the complicated and contextual meanings of community that are constantly under negotiation. We argue that the notion of community is reconstructed through narratives of the past, everyday social interactions, and material connections between people and places. Meanwhile, the process of remaking Zhujiajiao community is shaped by cultural values and situated within wider structural conditions. In this way, the article contributes to debates on the analytical importance of relationality and sociality in the recent rethinking of community from a Chinese perspective. It also argues for the need to develop more nuanced understandings of community in contemporary China beyond viewing it as a form of urban governance by focusing on residents’ narratives and practices.