Minority mobility in Guizhou province : with a focus on planned resettlement and its implications for ethnicity and identity

This chapter will investigate ethnic migration with a particular focus on the development of planned resettlements in Guizhou. This includes an examination of the historical, economic, political and ecological contexts from which ethnic migrants have been moved and, in particular, how planned resettlement has been implemented and its implications for ethnic identity. The discussion covers broad issues of ethnic minorities, environmental change, social and economic development and ethnic minority migration in Guizhou. Guizhou is one of the most multicultural regions and also one of thepoorest provinces in China. The Guizhou resettlement program is reported as the single largest relocation in recent Chinese history. The number of migrants involved will surpass that of the Three Gorges Dam which relocated 1.27 million people along the Yangtze River during the period from 1992 to 2008.