Materiali viaggio Wencheng

Emigration…from the Other Shore – A Journey to the Hometowns of Chinese Immigrants in Turin

This section contains materials collected in April 2024 during a research mission by Professor Stefania Stafutti

We are accustomed to viewing immigrants solely through the lens of the “destination country.” We know that most Chinese immigrants in Italy—particularly the vast majority in our region—originate from the Wenzhou/Wencheng/Qingtian area in Zhejiang Province. While relatively prosperous by Chinese standards, these mountainous and remote districts remained untouched by China’s economic boom throughout the 1980s-90s. Today, immigrant remittances have visibly transformed local economies. We now witness return migration, primarily (but not exclusively) among first-generation emigrants. Gradually, these returnees have sought to preserve and celebrate their migration experiences, “importing” elements of culture absorbed during their years abroad back to their ancestral homeland. The photographs below document facets of this ongoing cultural negotiation.