Return migration, employment absorption, and gentrification: a micro perspective of “Chinese Dream” in rural tourism

Under the current call and wave of China's rural revitalization, the country's development strategy is gradually shifting from the traditional urban focus to rural areas. As China's rate of urbanisation accelerates, rural areas face the dual pressures of population exodus and economic backwardness. The development of rural areas urgently needs the injection of talent and the activation of intelligence. At this critical turning point, how to attract and retain talents has become a crucial task. Therefore, this study aims to explore how return migrants are attracted back to the countryside. Rural tourism villages in Zhejiang Province were selected as fieldwork sites for this study, and through a total of seven months of in-depth observation and interviews using ethnographic methods, the study aims to unravel how the processes of gentrification may form micro-practices that shape the "Chinese dream" of rural tourism. Importantly, there is a research gap on the concept of gentrification in China. In Western sociological literature, gentrification usually carries negative connotations, such as displacement of local people and social exclusion. In the real context of rural revitalization in China, however, gentrification is mostly presented as a positive process. In the process of urban-rural migration, rural gentrification and lifestyle migration with unique Chinese characteristics have been formed. For example, this combination of macro-level guidance with individuals' social networks and place attachment provides an insightful case study for examining the micro-practices of individuals' choices to return to their home villages in China's rural revitalization.<br/>