The Leaving and the Living

This chapter explores the rapid urbanization and economic development of Yanbian, China, a remarkable change driven by the flow of remittances from South Korea. It also examines the way that internal migration, of both Korean Chinese and Han Chinese within China, intersects with and is influenced by transnational migration. The ethnography emphasizes how mobility is differentiated by ethnicity and affected by the region's dependency on “Korean money,” as illustrated through the stories of a Korean Chinese former factory worker, a Korean Chinese farmer, a South Korean businessman, and several Han Chinese people newly arrived in Yanbian. Their experiences illustrate how ethnically differentiated mobility leads ethnic groups to develop different ranges, routes, and life choices under changing economic conditions in China and South Korea.