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Journal of Resources and Ecology >

2026 , Vol. 17 >Issue 1: 265 - 274

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5814/j.issn.1674-764x.2026.01.021

Resource Economy

The Motivational Mechanisms and Relationship Network of the Southward Migration of Ethnic Minorities in Northeast China: A Case Study of the Dorbod Mongol Ethnic Group in Heilongjiang

  • LI Yaning , 1 ,
  • TAO Hui , 2, *
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  • 1. School of Ethnology and Sociology, Minzu University of China, Beijing 100081, China
  • 2. School of Management, Minzu University of China, Beijing 100081, China
* TAO Hui, E-mail:

LI Yaning, E-mail:

Received date: 2025-07-15

  Accepted date: 2025-10-11

  Online published: 2026-02-02

Supported by

The National Natural Science Foundation of China(42571305)

The National Social Science Foundation of China(23BSH070)

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Abstract

With increasingly frequent cross-regional population mobility in China, heading south to Guangdong and engaging in the catering industry related to dumpling restaurants has become a significant collective livelihood practice for the Dorbod Mongols of Heilongjiang Province. Grounded in life course theory, this study analyzes the group’s unique long-distance interprovincial mobility patterns, motivational mechanisms, and intergenerational evolution. The results reveal that the southward migration of the Dorbod Mongols was not merely an economic decision, but rather a result of the interplay between historical circumstances, social networks, and individual agency. Throughout this process, they developed a migration pattern characterized by “pioneer initiation—lineage diffusion—village-level emulation—intergenerational transmission”. This demonstrates the pivotal role of family-centered social cohesion and relational networks in facilitating cross-regional mobility and urban integration. By providing both a unique lens and a concrete case study, this research advances our understanding of the diverse forms of minority migration in China and the complex mechanisms of population outflow in the Northeast.

Key words： ethnic migrants; interprovincial mobility; motivational mechanisms; relationship network

Cite this article

LI Yaning , TAO Hui . The Motivational Mechanisms and Relationship Network of the Southward Migration of Ethnic Minorities in Northeast China: A Case Study of the Dorbod Mongol Ethnic Group in Heilongjiang[J]. Journal of Resources and Ecology, 2026 , 17(1) : 265 -274 . DOI: 10.5814/j.issn.1674-764x.2026.01.021

1 Introduction

Migrants have always been an important research object in the fields of ethnology, anthropology and sociology. Under the background of large flow and large integration, scholars have conducted valuable explorations and reflections on the characteristics (Yang, 2022), trends (Geng and Chen, 2025), and social integration (Li and Zhang, 2024) of ethnic migrants. However, much of this research relies on quantitative analyses based on macro-level big data or questionnaire surveys, and there is a notable deficiency in qualitative, comprehensive descriptions of micro-level individuals. Furthermore, studies focusing on the agency and subjectivity of ethnic minorities have predominantly concentrated on groups in Southwest China (Liu, 2016; Luo, 2021) and Northwest China (Maihebubaimu, 2023). In-depth case studies of ethnic minorities in Northeast China and other regions characterized by dispersed or mixed residency patterns have been chronically absent. Furthermore, existing discussions on population outflow from Northeast China often emphasize structural economic factors such as sluggish economic growth (Wei et al., 2022) and insufficient employment opportunities (Chen and Wu, 2024), so to some extent they have overlooked the profound role of cultural factors in population mobility. There is a particular lack of systematic attention to the subjectivity, cultural adaptation strategies, and relational network-building mechanisms demonstrated by mobile groups during their migration processes. The collective southward migration of the Dorbod Mongols in Heilongjiang is not merely a livelihood strategy to cope with economic pressure but also an agentive practice integrating historical memory, kinship networks, and cultural identity. Its unique migration pathways and internal logic provide a valuable research entry point for understanding the cultural dimensions of population mobility and the mechanisms of subjective construction.
The Dorbod Mongols began their long-distance interprovincial migration to Guangdong in the early 1990s. As of May 2023, the Na Village ① , a Mongolian settlement in Dorbod Mongol Autonomous County, had a registered population of 934 residents. Of these, 413 were permanent residents while 521 were migrants, with 258 engaged in dumpling restaurant businesses across the Pearl River Delta region of Guangdong. According to the Annals of Dorbod Mongol Autonomous County (DMACLCCC, 2006), “By 2003, the long- term migrant population originating from this county had neared 30000 individuals. Geographically, these migrants were predominantly distributed across the three provinces in Northeast China and coastal areas, with a significant concentration in Guangdong Province, where approximately 25000 migrants resided”. Based on the authors’ fieldwork and data from the Dorbod Archives, it is estimated that over 10000 individuals from the county remain active in Guangdong’s dumpling restaurant industry today, and they have subsequently diversified into various sectors nationwide. This context raises four important research questions: Why did such a substantial cohort from the Dorbod Mongol Autonomous County of Heilongjiang choose migration to the distant Pearl River Delta region? What distinguishes the patterns and motivational mechanisms of the Dorbod Mongols’ mobility? How do the migrants themselves interpret their migration decisions and practical strategies? How have the spatio-temporal contexts and decision-making factors underlying this sustained southward migration evolved across generations, and what impacts have ensued?
Academic research on Mongolian migrant populations exhibits a pronounced regional bias, predominantly focusing on the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Notable examples include the comparative study of Mongolian and Han migrant workers in mixed-residence areas of Chifeng (Ma, 2010), as well as examinations of urbanization processes (Ma, 1990) and marital family situations (Surna and Sarge, 2005) among Mongolians in Hohhot. While these works reveal interethnic distinctions between the Mongolian and Han migrants, they inadvertently obscure intra-ethnic diversity in the migratory experiences. According to the Encyclopedia of Mongolian Studies: Modern History (Hao, 2017), approximately 22.63% of China’s Mongolians (roughly 1.316 million people) have dispersed and reside beyond the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and they represent populations whose mobility patterns have diverged significantly from the dominant regional group. Mongolians in Inner Mongolia typically engage in short-distance mobility within the Bohai Rim or adjacent northeastern regions (Yang, 2022). Conversely, Mongolians from Heilongjiang’s Dorbod Mongol Autonomous County exhibit long-distance interprovincial migration spanning 3000 km to Guangdong. While Zhou and Yu (2018) examined the living conditions and adaptation strategies of Mongolians in Guangzhou from an ethnic relations perspective, their research is limited in scope. It focuses narrowly on Mongolians migrating to Guangzhou from Inner Mongolia, with particular emphasis on student groups, thereby neglecting those originating from other regions and engaged in diverse occupational sectors. To address these gaps, this study examines Mongolian migrants from Dorbod Mongol Autonomous County, Heilongjiang, who have engaged in the Pearl River Delta’s catering industry since 1990. This case study of northeastern Mongolian long-distance migration aims to broaden the research on minority migration and offers a new lens through which to view the phenomenon of out-migration in the Northeast.

2 Theoretical framework and research methods

The life course theory originated from migration research. Although domestic and international migration studies under the life course theoretical framework cover a wide range, they fundamentally stem from foundational issues such as “roles and relationships”, “the process of trajectories” and “embedded contexts” (Zeng, 2016). In recent years, scholars have conducted extensive and in-depth research on the urban-rural migration of rural migrant workers from the life course perspective, but the application of this paradigm to minority mobile populations has been limited. Therefore, this paper attempts to use the logical framework of life course theory to explain the driving factors, operational mechanisms and relational networks underlying the southward migration of Heilongjiang’s Dorbod Mongols into Guangdong’s catering industry.
Interpreting the formation mechanisms of cross-regional mobility patterns among ethnic minorities through a life course lens requires focused attention on the historical spatio-temporal contexts inhabited by mobile subjects. For the Dorbod Mongols, migrating south to engage in dumpling restaurant businesses in Guangdong constitutes a pivotal “turning point” within their life trajectories. First, the life paths of pioneering individuals created historical possibilities for collective mobility. Second, kinship-geographic networks formed through “linked lives” established a socio-economic system of industry clustering based on a common origin in Guangdong’s Pearl River Delta. Finally, the agentic practices of three migrant generations transformed the southward migration choice into a culturally enculturated habitus, thereby perpetuating population movement to the south. These tripartite mechanisms interact within spatio-temporally nested structures, and they have collectively shaped an interprovincial mobility paradigm that integrates relational networks with market economies.
Given the mobility of the research subjects and constraints imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, this study adopted George E. Marcus’ multi-sited ethnographic methodology. Fieldwork was conducted in two phases: December 2021-February 2023 in Na Village, Dorbod Mongol Autonomous County, Heilongjiang; and February-May 2023 in Northeastern-style restaurants operated by Na migrants across the Pearl River Delta, Guangdong. The dataset ultimately includes systematic participant observations from 80 households and in-depth interviews with over 200 individuals.

3 Life trajectories and turning points of pioneering individuals

Life course theory emphasizes the mutual constitution of individual life events and socio-historical processes, positing that personal trajectories are embedded within specific historical social structures. The collective southward migration of the Dorbod Mongols remains intrinsically interwoven with the life trajectory of a single pioneering individual, WGX ② . As an early migrant to Guangdong during the Reform and Opening era, WGX’s mobility decision constituted not only a critical turning point in his personal life course but also, through relational networks, shaped a collective migratory pathway across generations. A recurrent narrative in the fieldwork—“Without WGX, there would be none of us today”—exemplifies the way in which individual life trajectories can shape collective fortunes. Consequently, departing from the theory’s core concern with temporal embeddedness, a comprehensive description of the complexity and contingency within the pioneers’ life stories becomes essential for dissecting the logics of individual agency and collective action formation during societal transformation.

3.1 Lives within historical temporality

Prior to migrating south to Guangdong, WGX worked for the County Song and Dance Ensemble, where he cultivated expertise in photography. During the early Reform and Opening era, WGX astutely discerned the economic opportunities latent within institutional transformations. Initially, he tried to capitalize on his ethnic status to take over the County Song and Dance Ensemble, but that plan never came to fruition without support. Subsequently, his proposal to establish a photography studio met with vehement opposition from his wife, who perceived his limited involvement in the trade. Ultimately, inspired by family counsel, the couple pivoted to the catering industry.
In September 1983, they launched a 50 m2 “Mongolian Flavor Restaurant”, which proved immediately profitable. By 1984, WGX envisioned structural expansion into a “lodging-dining integrated” hotel. With governmental support, “Tianma Hotel” opened successfully in September 1985. Its menu featured Mongolian hotpot, hand-pulled mutton, steamed buckwheat dumplings, buckwheat noodles, milk skin, fried millet, milk tea, and tripe soup, which established the region’s first ethnic culinary precedent.
Life course theory holds that the resources available at life’s inception, along with early exposure to significant socio-historical events and personal milestones, exert cumulative effects on subsequent life choices and trajectories (Elder, 1994). WGX’s initial entrepreneurial endeavors demonstrate how his embodied cultural capital, psychological resilience forged through childhood adversity, organizational competencies acquired within state institutions, and photographic skills coupled with market acumen underwent creative recomposition during China’s Reform and Opening era. These competencies, experiences, and attributes constituted the very substance of his existence within historical temporality, ultimately propelling his interprovincial entrepreneurship and enabling a critical turning point in his life course.

3.2 Linked lives

Life course theory maintains that human lives are fundamentally socially constituted and interdependent, with societal and historical influences mediated through relational networks. WGX’s entanglement with Guangdong originated in a pivotal encounter with another southbound pioneer, epitomized by the symbolic “washing machine incident”.
In 1978, SY ③ from the Dorbod Mongolian Autonomous County was aided by a Harbin saleswoman he called “Auntie Liang” after contracting scarlet fever on a business trip. As Fei noted, “Every kinship term, when first used to address someone, contains a psychological state corresponding to close kinship” (Fei, 2007). This close relationship led SY to acquire a washing machine through Auntie Liang. In the subsequent course of resolving the washing machine matter for his friend, through a process involving compensation and unsuccessful repair attempts, SY thereby established direct contact with the factory in Guangdong. The factory fixed the parts problem and went a step further by suggesting a business partnership. SY keenly sensed the robust market demand for washing machines and the signals of policy relaxation during the early stages of Reform and Opening-up. He decisively launched a washing machine business by adopting a contracting model that required him to assume full responsibility for its profits and losses. Partnering with the Guangdong manufacturer allowed his business to grow quickly while building up a valuable network and market knowledge in the area.
In May 1989, SY, who was then serving as the president of the local Individual Laborers Association, received a direct invitation from a friend in Guangzhou. The message read, “Guangdong is opening up! We invite you to come and explore its potential!” Motivated by policy incentives and market opportunities, SY discussed this with his brother-in-law and made the decision to lead a team to Guangdong on a fact-finding mission.
Meanwhile, WGX became greatly interested in the People’s Daily coverage on the development of Daya Bay in Guangdong. Learning that his friend (SY’s brother-in-law) planned a southern investigative tour, he secured participation. This initiative exemplifies individual agency in navigating policy shifts while underscoring the critical role of relational networks in disseminating transformative information during socioeconomic flux. Moreover, at such critical junctures—decisive “moments of biographical opportunity”—accumulated life experiences and proactive agentic awareness prove pivotal. Leveraging his experience in restaurant management and his photographic skills WGX systematically documented Guangdong’s catering landscape. His survey revealed an underserved market gap of numerous factories and migrant workers with limited dining options, particularly northern-style noodle cuisine. This insight catalyzed the opening of the BS Dumpling House Within years, legends of the restaurant’s alleged “daily ten-thousand-yuan earnings transported in money sacks” permeated Dorbod and galvanized the collective southward migration.
Life course theory contends that individual life trajectories unfold within and are fundamentally shaped by specific historical contexts, with the impact of socio-historical transformations contingent upon one’s position in the life course at the time of change (Elder, 2002). In this case, WGX’s southward migration decision constituted both a structural product of Reform and Opening policies and an outcome propelled by kinship networks and relational support: 1) The intimate quasi-kinship bond between SY and “Aunt Liang” positioned SY to establish connections through washing machines, subsequently co-constructing efficient business networks with Guangdong counterparts; and 2) Strong ties among immediate relatives expanded the interpersonal networks, enabling SY to emerge as the critical facilitator for his brother-in-law’s associate WGX. These dynamically linked lives forged the relational pathways that enabled Dorbod Mongol’s collective southward migration.

4 Socioeconomic system of place-based occupational clustering

The Dorbod people ④ who migrated south to the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong can be categorized into two groups: urban employees emulating the pioneers to invest in restaurants, and agro-pastoralists employed at the BS Dumpling House. Both groups emphasize kinship-territorial networks as the drivers of their entry into Guangdong’s dumpling industry. This empirically validates the life course principle of “linked lives”, in which human existence is fundamentally embedded within social relations constituted by kin and community ties. Individuals become integrated into specific groups precisely through such social bonds, and they are inevitably exposed to profound influences from significant life events within the biographical trajectories of others. Consequently, analyzing the genesis of southbound migration requires incorporating kinship, territorial, and occupational relational networks into the analytical framework.

4.1 Kinship-based entrepreneurship and native-place belongingness

The migration of pioneering individuals to Guangdong not only reconfigured their own life trajectories but also profoundly impacted multiple interconnected groups, including their immediate families, extended kin networks, and the broader Dorbod community, particularly agro-pastoralists in village societies. Crucially, it was precisely these pioneers’ institutional affiliations (as urban workers), ethnic identity, and embedded kinship-territorial networks that incorporated both urban employees and rural agro-pastoralists into the operational framework of the Pearl River Delta’s dumpling restaurant industry. This convergence established a stable migratory channel and supportive infrastructure for the Dorbod people’s southward mobility.

4.1.1 Emergence of self-regulatory operational norms

The BS Dumpling House operates as a kinship-anchored economic organization, as its management, operations, and developmental trajectory are deeply embedded within familial relational networks. This kinship embeddedness has been manifested most directly through business expansion: WGX facilitated his sister’s establishment of “Little BS Dumpling House”, and they jointly founded “Guangdong BS Culinary Culture Co., Ltd”. Their “dispersed outlet strategy” organically fused familial relations with commercial enterprise.
This “dispersed outlet strategy” constitutes a distinctive spatial approach characterized by low-density dispersed distribution of Dorbod-owned dumpling restaurants across Pearl River Delta towns/villages, and universal adherence to the operational norm of “No new outlets within 200 m of kin-affiliated shops”. Originating from a fraternal pact between WGX and his sister—whereby they demarcated non-competing territories—this agreement evolved through collective practice into the “no encroachment among kin-affiliated shops” convention. It now functions as an informal institution governing Dorbod business conduct in Guangdong, and violators face collective industry boycott.
Although this low-density, mosaic-like spatial distribution defies conventional agglomeration economies, the dispersed operational model effectively mitigates internal competition while securing broader market niches for individual outlets. This strategy epitomizes the relational rationality prioritizing market adaptation wisdom of the Dorbod Mongols. As articulated by the proprietress of Black Swan Dumpling House: “All dumpling restaurants constitute a community of common development”. The authors contend that such cultural identification and collective destiny consciousness forge cohesive strength in diasporic contexts, ultimately attracting growing numbers of Dorbod people southward to seek employment and business opportunities.

4.1.2 Scaling of co-origin networks

During the construction and scaling of co-origin networks, pioneering leaders strategically incorporated urban colleagues into their ventures while establishing near-total institutional support systems—reminiscent of the “danwei” (Tian, 2021) model—for their employees’ families. For compatriots seeking independent businesses, they provided mentorship-based capital and labor support, thereby reinforcing network cohesion and stability. Amid urbanization, the pioneers developed a “rural encirclement of cities” strategy which supported migrants to establish outlets near factories in villages or urban-rural peripheries before expanding to urban cores. At its peak, the BS Dumpling House operated 48 branches.
Early branch managers were predominantly kin, who subsequently developed secondary acquaintance networks through blood, territorial, occupational, and fictive kinship ties, ultimately forging an “insider-only” relational chain. The restaurant’s social network thus exhibited quintessential differential-order chain diffusion which originated from the leaders’ core kinship-territorial ties, then radiated through multilayered relationships to form a vast occupational community transcending ethnicity and geography. As some informants noted: “Initially all were hometown kin; later came compatriots from Inner Mongolia, Jilin, Liaoning”.
In essence, the pioneering leaders strategically connected their compatriots’ migration trajectories to their own life courses through cultural intimacy, while mastering markets via familial and kinship bonds deeply embedded in socio-cultural logics. Their relational networks evolved progressively from initial micro-scale kinship circles to territory-based networks leveraging native-place solidarity and ultimately scaled into pan-Northeastern social networks. This model generated dual dynamics of increasing numbers of migrants following pioneers southward—joining the dumpling industry through branch outlets or independent ventures—while skilled workers possessing core technical and managerial expertise spun off into entrepreneurship. Consequently, the BS Dumpling House functioned as a potent socioeconomic incubator that enabled Dorbod-run dumpling restaurants to proliferate throughout Guangdong.

4.1.3 Institutional embeddedness of governmental support

In the early 1990s, the Dorbod Mongol Autonomous County experienced a structural livelihood crisis. According to the Annals of Dorbod Mongol Autonomous County (DMACLCCC, 1996), “Over 3000 laid-off workers lost basic subsistence guarantees, trapped in conditions of underemployment and economic stagnation. Wage arrears plagued both active and retired employees”. Confronting this economic distress, the pioneering couple WGX donated 1 million yuan to the county government as emergency relief. Subsequently, under national policy guidance, local authorities incorporated Guangdong-bound labor migration into their formal labor export system, thereby promoting this “southbound labor flow” model province-wide.
During the catastrophic 1998 floods, southbound employment emerged as a critical disaster response measure that further accelerated Dorbod’s migratory momentum into a significant social phenomenon. This demographically significant movement, which was triggered by historical opportunity and economic pressure, evolved into an influential self-reliant development pathway through state support and policy facilitation. By 2000, the BS Culinary Group had absorbed over 2000 Dorbod workers, catalyzing outward mobility for more than 20000 compatriots (Chen, 2001). Numerous migrants established independent dumpling restaurants after receiving training and support from BS. According to the proprietress, approximately 500 Dorbod business operators of varying scales were engaged in dumpling-related enterprises across the Pearl River Delta region during this period—which was directly attributable to BS’s influence.

4.2 Household support and lineage development

Within Chinese cultural traditions, the family/household constitutes not merely a fundamental social unit, but the archetypal cognitive schema that shapes individual thought patterns and value orientations (Sun, 2019). Leveraging familial resources and expanding the household collective represent the core entrepreneurial strategies and ultimate aspirations for Dorbod Mongol entrepreneurs in Guangdong.

4.2.1 Household support

Within the southbound migration wave of the Dorbod Mongols, agro-pastoralists constituted the largest cohort. These individuals predominantly entered Northeastern-style dumpling restaurants in Guangdong’s Pearl River Delta through kinship networks. Following years of experiential learning and capital accumulation, many transitioned to independent entrepreneurship. Throughout this entrepreneurial process, blood-based familial networks proved instrumental in three critical domains: initial capital pooling, labor mobilization, and flexible work scheduling. In retrospective accounts, Dorbod entrepreneurs in Guangdong consistently emphasized the indispensable scaffolding provided by kinship ties during venture establishment.
For example, one Dorbod Mongol entrepreneurial couple recounted their 2006 venture establishment which required 100000 yuan to launch a restaurant. They contributed 50000 yuan from personal savings while their parents generated 20000 yuan through livestock sales. The husband’s sister—a village teacher—provided her salary card as collateral, supplemented by loans from kin networks. Another successful Dorbod Mongol restaurateur attributed her venture’s viability to comprehensive kinship labor integration. Her entrepreneurial unit comprised a paternal aunt’s son and daughter-in-law specializing in dough-based dishes and cold appetizers, a younger brother as head chef, his wife serving as lead server responsible for customer engagement, and a paternal cousin as support staff handling operational tasks.
These two cases collectively illustrate the social role and cultural significance of the family in the store opening and management process. The first highlights the family’s economic function and, when businesses hit a bottleneck, the employee group’s transcendence of traditional employment boundaries to provide psychological comfort and spiritual motivation to the entrepreneur. The second demonstrates how family members injected diverse labor and technical support into restaurant operations through clear division of labor and close collaboration. The collaborative mutual aid among family members not only achieved efficient allocation of economic resources but also built a solid emotional relationship network through daily interactions, providing dual guarantees for the restaurant’s sustained development. These diverse forms of family support, including the quasi-kinship relationships established between the store owner and employees and the labor participation of family members, transformed the restaurant into a field for the continuation of family relationships. In this context, the entrepreneur’s restaurant management transcends mere commercial activity, becoming a way of life that carries family affection and kinship ties.

4.2.2 Lineage development

As a fundamental unit of social production, the household embodies potent vitality. Dorbod Mongol entrepreneurs in Guangdong reconstitute novel social formations through their nuclear families, thus actualizing kinship-based mutual support and collective advancement. The entrepreneurial trajectory of Couple S and L ⑤ epitomizes this familial migration pattern. Propelled by childcare-related economic pressures, they established the SL Dumpling House in 2009 by leveraging pooled lineage capital. The inception of this venture became the nodal point for kinship network expansion, initiating a chain-reaction development model of family-concentric business proliferation.
In 2011, they relocated the husband’s younger brother’s family, providing capital and site selection for the establishment of the CX Dumpling House. The husband’s younger brother subsequently facilitated the migration of his wife’s brother’s family, establishing the BA Dumpling House. In 2018, they hired the youngest sister initially as a dishwasher while her construction-worker husband undertook menial labor, and after one year, that facilitated their WB Dumpling House launch. After 2020, they recruited the second sister’s couple to abandon a loss-making Xi’an business during the pandemic, enabling their establishment of the FY Dumpling House. In 2021, they coordinated with their brother-in-law to establish XL Dumpling House for the husband’s aunt’s daughter—previously employed in Qiqihar—and her low-income spouse.
Over 15 years of restaurant operations in Guangdong, Couple SL facilitated the relocation of 23 patrilineal and matrilineal kin from Northeast China, initiating genealogical chain migration where subsequently relocated relatives catalyzed further kin mobility. As the couple asserted: “Individual prosperity proves insufficient; true security emerges through collective familial advancement”. Note that this process forged a lineage-based business structure. During their initial settlement phase, BL’s Northeastern restaurant functioned as a critical incubation space where younger siblings acquired linguistic competence and urban literacy, and accumulated economic, social, and cultural capital. This “familial enterprise proliferation” model reconcentrated the dispersed strong ties through mobility, and constructed a native-place cultural enclave within urban space. Such dense connectivity not only established mutual economic support networks but also cultivated urban belonging and place-based identity formation. Presently, Couple SL’s extended lineage operates six dumpling houses, with five families permanently settled in Guangdong. This phenomenon, where a nuclear family unit anchors entire kinship networks in southern migration and specialized entrepreneurship, demonstrates the pivotal agency of household units within expansive markets. Throughout urbanization, such lineage-based commercial networks represent not only economic phenomena but creative reinventions of traditional culture within modernity.

5 Intergenerational transmission of the “southbound habitus”

Southbound labor migration constitutes a critical turning point in the life courses of Dorbod agro-pastoralists, while simultaneously serving as a core pathway for rural-urban integration. Given the distinct generational cohorts’ differential positioning within socio-historical contexts, their motivations, strategic adaptations, and urban incorporation trajectories exhibit marked intergenerational differentiation. Consequently, adopting a dynamic and comparative intergenerational perspective better illuminates the agentic practices of mobile subjects and the formation processes of the southbound migratory habitus.
Life course theory emphasizes that age-grade categorization must transcend purely biological perspectives, focusing instead on the shared characteristics of cohort groups within common socio-historical milieus (Li et al., 1999). Within this framework, the Na Village’s Guangdong-bound migrants can be categorized into three generations by birth era: the older generation of 1960s-1970s cohorts, primarily married couples migrating during 1990-2000; the middle generation of the 1980s cohort, typically unmarried youth migrating during 2000-2010; and the younger generation of 1990s-2000s cohorts, primarily descendants or relatives of prior generations (Table 1).
Table 1 The basic profiles of the three generations of Guangdong-bound migrants from Na Village ⑥
Generation Birth cohort Age range (yr) N Peak migration period Life stage characteristics Primary migration motivations
The older generation 1960-1979 46-65 72 1990-2000 Married-couple dominated Material needs
The middle generation 1980-1989 35-45 118 2000-2010 Unmarried-youth dominated Social needs
The younger generation 1990-2004 20-34 42 2010-Present Intergenerationally dependent Spiritual needs

5.1 The older generation of pioneers

During the 1980s-1990s, the land, pastures, and livestock owned by Dorbod agro-pastoralists could no longer sustain their families. Meanwhile, China’s eastern coastal regions experienced rapid economic growth, generating abundant employment opportunities. This vast regional developmental disparity, coupled with the catalytic influence of the BS Dumpling House, made southbound migration to Guangdong a crucial pathway for the 1960s-1970s cohorts to transform their life trajectories.
The first generation migrants’ narratives about their families of origin focus on structural poverty triggered by tensions in human-land relationships. Most of these married couples moved south for subsistence, relying on manual labor to earn relatively stable and decent incomes to “support their families”. This mobility not only significantly enhanced their livelihood-sustaining capabilities but even allowed some individuals to achieve upward mobility—rising from impoverished peasants and herdsmen to prominent restaurant owners. For example, DF ⑦ , a former herdsman, migrated south and worked at the BS Dumpling House for four years. Starting as a dishwasher, he rose to become manager of the 29th branch, while his wife advanced from server to front desk manager. After earning money and gaining experience, they opened their own dumpling restaurant.
For the older generation, the decision to migrate south marked a critical turning point in their life course and the beginning of better living circumstances. As recalled by a return migrant, CL ⑧ , born in the 1960s: “When the 1998 floods drowned our fields and swept away our sheep, we were left desperate, wondering how to survive. Then we heard the BS Dumpling House was hiring. My husband and I joined right away—and honestly, working there truly lifted our family out of hardship”. In their view, traditional agriculture and animal husbandry meant being “contingent on weather conditions and seeing money only once a year with no guarantee of earnings”. In contrast, migrating for work provided an “iron rice bowl”—a job offering “reliable income regardless of droughts or floods”.
The economic achievement from urban integration by the older generation of pioneers laid crucial foundations for the multigenerational settlement of subsequent migrants. Today, those choosing to return to rural areas are predominantly from this cohort—precisely the group that introduced urban modernity into villages across social norms, business practices, technological awareness, and consumption patterns. Crucially, whether these individuals ultimately settled in the South or returned home, they still strongly identify with their “migration to Guangdong” experience. This value system and behavioral paradigm now guide their children in negotiating social positions and identities through analogous pathways.

5.2 The middle generation of followers

When returning home, the older generation of southern migrants would vividly extol their Guangdong experiences, recounting both the region’s prosperity and their own social ascent. Symbols of urban life, such as crisp dress shirts and polished leather shoes, along with distinct industrial structures and employment opportunities unavailable in rural areas, magnetized a new wave of post-1980s migrants to join the southward labor migration.
The mid-generation migrants, predominantly unmarried youth migrating south for work, came from families with moderately improved economic conditions. Their life courses followed a distinct trajectory of “migrate first, marry later”. This cohort’s migratory decisions were significantly influenced by the pioneers and predecessors, driven by explicit motivations for socioeconomic advancement through wealth accumulation. While some achieved identity transformation from laborers to entrepreneurs via spatial mobility and capital accumulation, most remained wage laborers. Crucially, regardless of their mobility outcomes, this generation universally views their migration to Guangdong as a positively transformative turning point. Unlike the older generation’s survival-driven displacement, the mid-generation has internalized southward migration as a self-determined quest to transform their life trajectories, so they demonstrate markedly heightened individual agency in their mobility practices.
Today, this generation of migrants has dispersed across diverse industries nationwide, demonstrating exceptional societal adaptability. They navigate urban lifestyles while retaining rural social familiarity. Some returnees have become pillars of rural revitalization, while others have achieved socioeconomic ascent and many continue striving as laborers. Crucially, compared to older migrant workers, they exhibit markedly stronger learning capacities, improvisational consciousness, and autonomous creativity. Significantly, the southbound work experience has been internalized as collective survival wisdom. Regardless of temporal or spatial changes, migrating to Guangdong and entering the dumpling restaurant trade remain their default recourse during livelihood crises.
As articulated by an interviewee, GLJ ⑨ , who transitioned to driving instruction in Hunan: “During the severe pandemic outbreak in early 2020, I went months without income. My youngest uncle ran a dumpling restaurant in Dongguan, so I worked there for several months. That place was full of fellow townsfolk—if you had no work, you could stay there a whole year. We’re all friends; anyone would offer temporary shelter when needed”. This means that Guangdong’s dumpling restaurant network now transcends physical confines, and has become a cultural sanctuary for migrants confronting subsistence challenges.

5.3 The younger generation of participants

The new generation of Dorbod Mongol migrants heading south are predominantly children of the older generation or relatives of the mid-generation cohort. Early-life experiences of residing in the South with parents and kin embedded within them an enduring “southbound migration imaginary”—a deeply rooted orientation that shapes their subsequent mobility decisions.
For example, BZY ⑩ is a university-educated post-1990s woman who proactively migrated to Guangdong after graduation, joining an aunt who had settled there, with the grandmother also residing in the city. Having parents who met while working in the South, this individual developed an enduring affinity for the region from childhood, which crystallized into a profound aspiration for southern life. Despite parental expectations to secure civil service positions in their hometown, the young BZY defied conventions, asserting that “working in Guangdong constitutes the most courageous and self-determined decision I have ever made”.
The new generation of migrants has attenuated the instrumental perception of southbound migration as merely a channel for socioeconomic advancement, instead emphasizing the pursuit of individualized life values and existential meaning through mobility. For the cohorts who personally experienced southern family life during childhood, even those not continuing in the dumpling restaurant trade remain permeated by the “southbound ethos” inherited from their predecessors—sharing their elders’ yearning for southern living, while anticipating career progression, self-realization, and novel life experiences in the metropolises. Driven by this cultural belonging, they often retrace the ancestral migration trajectories southward, and become contemporary agents perpetuating the enduring “southbound narrative”.

6 Conclusions and discussion

This study places the southward migration practices of the Dorbod Mongols within the overall context of their life courses, offering an in-depth qualitative depiction. Illustrating their resilient cross-provincial path of southward migration, characterized by “pioneer initiation—lineage diffusion—village-level emulation—intergenerational transmission”, reveals the agentic practices and cultural creativity of ethnic migrants under macro-structural constraints.
First, the southward migration of the Dorbod Mongols is the result of a confluence of historical opportunities, relational networks, and individual agency. At the macro level, China’s reform and opening-up policies and its socio-economic development created the structural conditions that enabled their mobility. Meanwhile, the entrepreneurial practices of pioneers and subsequent migrants creatively transformed native-place sentiments and kinship ties from their rural communities into organizational resources within the market economy. This process gave rise to a mutually beneficial social model and a kinship-based migratory pathway with distinctive Chinese characteristics. Consequently, migrating south to Guangdong to engage in the dumpling restaurant trade evolved from a sporadic phenomenon into a stable collective choice and established practice.
Second, social bonds and relational networks centered on the “family” form the organizational core of their migratory practice. Their logic of chain migration, in which “relatives bring along family members, families bring along village kin, village kin bring along fellow townspeople”, and the mechanism of social integration operating from the “individual-family-lineage-village-town” continuum, facilitates an organic fusion of kinship and geographical ties with occupational clustering. Continuously expanding on this basis, they have formed a complex, cross-regional, and cross-ethnic “same-place, same-trade” socio-economic system and relational network. This system provides substantial economic support and social sustenance for the sustained southward migration and urban integration of the Dorbod Mongols.
Finally, the intergenerational transmission of the “southbound habitus” provides the cultural foundation for the sustained migration and urban integration of Dorbod Mongols. As temporal and spatial contexts evolve, the motivations for mobility and the pathways of urban integration differ significantly across generations: the older generation was driven primarily by material survival; the middle generation pursues social mobility and class advancement; and the newer generation places greater emphasis on spiritual fulfillment and self-realization. Viewed as ideal types, the life courses of these three generations, progressing from material needs to social needs and then to emotional needs, correspond precisely to the three dimensions of urban integration: economic integration, social adaptation, and identity formation. This reflects a shift in the southbound practice from a livelihood strategy to a cultural habitus. This process is sustained through intergenerational “enculturation” (Yang, 2011) that has gradually formed a “regional cultural ecology” (Ma, 2023) that encourages heading south, as migrating to Guangdong is perceived as a reliable and even commendable life path. As Fei and Li observed, the vitality of Chinese society and culture lies “between generations”, and strong intergenerational inheritance is a characteristic of Chinese culture (Fei and Li, 1998). This culturally ingrained habitus, passed down through generations, constitutes the intrinsic motivation for the sustained southward migration of the Dorbod Mongols.
In summary, this study reveals a collective migration pattern initiated by pioneers, sustained through kinship and native-place networks, and continuously reinforced via intergenerational transmission, thereby elucidating the intricate interplay between cultural logic and market forces in population mobility. This case demonstrates that population outflow from Northeast China has not been merely a passive response to economic pressures, but represents strategic agency exercised by migrants through their social networks. Traditional relational networks are not obstacles to modernization; rather, they serve as crucial bridges connecting different regions, ethnic groups, and generations that enable cross-regional mobility and adaptation. This family-centered model of migration and adaptation—which seamlessly integrates tradition with modernity—not only challenges the individualistic assumptions underlying Western migration theories, but also offers an illuminating Chinese perspective on the global question of how tradition and modernity may be reconciled.

References

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