"The 150 million migrants that left home in pursuit of economic opportunities are changing the face of China. This book is about this human tide, how it has evolved over the last two decades, and what it means to China's city and countryside. By addressing the hukou paradigm and the permanent migrant paradigm, the book challenges the assumption that peasant migrants' main goal is permanent residence in the city. Rather, the findings show that splitting the peasant household into a permanent rural segment and a temporary urban segment allows migrants to straddle and benefit from two worlds."

"Based on detailed analysis of census and survey data and insights from field materials and migrants' narratives, the book documents and identifies key forces that shape migrants' decision-making. It also examines changes in the composition and spatial pattern of migration, the hukou (household registration) system and its evolution, differentials between male and female migration, gender relations and power hierarchy, circular migration, migrants' experiences in the city, the impacts of migration on the countryside, marriage migration, and new opportunities and challenges for the Chinese on the move in the twenty-first century."

"The book draws on twenty years of English-language and Chinese-language studies on migration, and it depicts salient empirical information via maps, illustrations and tables. Population researchers, Asian Studies scholars, China observers and specialists, and students ranging from advanced undergraduates to doctoral students will find this book both informative and stimulating."--Jacket.