Vietnamese-Chinese relationships at the borderlands: Trade, tourism and cultural politics

Ever since China and Vietnam resumed diplomatic contacts and reopened the border in 1991, the borderland region has come been part of the vibrant growing economies of both countries and drawn many from the interior provinces to the borderland for new economic adventures. This book examines Chinese-Vietnamese relationships at the borderland through every day cross-border interactions in trade and tourism activities. It looks into the historical underlining of bilateral relations of the two countries which often shape people's perceptions of the 'other' and interpretation of intentions of acts in their daily interactions. Albeit Chinese and Vietnamese have lived side by side for centuries, their interactions in the space of trade and modern tourism activities in post-war and post-reform China and Vietnam are something novel to both people. The book provides a 'bottom-up' approach to examine localized experiences of inter-state relations. It illustrates the changes the vibrant economic process has brought to the borderland communities, and how the newly revived contacts and interactions have provided a contested space for testing Vietnamese-Chinese interactions and demonstrating trans-border cultural politics. A novel study of the strategic development of the borderlands within the new political economy at China-Southeast Asia border region, this book is of interest to academics in the field of Anthropology, Border Studies, Social and Cultural Studies and Asian Studies.