Report | “Keywords in Contemporary China” Collaborative Writing Workshop II 3.Heading North (Běishàng)

2026-10-16

“Keywords in Contemporary China” Collaborative Writing Workshop II

Date: August 28–29, 2026
Venue: L522, Museum of Literature, Tamkang University
Format: In-person
Organizers: Contemporary China Research Project, International Center for Cultural Studies, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University; Department of Chinese Literature, Tamkang University

Abstract

The “Keywords in Contemporary China” Collaborative Writing Workshop seeks to use “keywords” as a research method for understanding contemporary China. Rather than simply collecting popular expressions or cultural phenomena, the workshop focuses on the two mutually constitutive concepts of “China” and “the contemporary,” and attempts to trace the historical experiences, institutional characteristics, affective structures, and cultural imaginaries of contemporary China through a series of keywords.

In terms of historical periodization, we regard 1949 and the period from 1978 to 2000 as two important historical starting points for understanding “contemporary China.” At the same time, we treat “China” itself as a concept that requires renewed reflection. The purpose is not limited to examining the meanings of individual terms; rather, each keyword serves as an entry point into the historical, literary, social, and intellectual contexts through which contemporary China can be understood.

Through collaborative writing and collective discussion, we hope to gradually construct a shared conceptual vocabulary for understanding contemporary China, map the complex landscape of contemporary China, and develop a body of documentary and research resources that can serve as a reference for future scholarship.

Moderators

Song Yu-Wen — Assistant Professor, Department of Chinese Literature, National Central University
Tsai Meng-Che — Assistant Professor, Graduate Institute of Gender Studies, National Kaohsiung Normal University
Huang Wen-Chien — Associate Professor, Department of Chinese Literature, Tamkang University
Wang Chih-Ming — Research Fellow, Institute of European and American Studies, Academia Sinica; Convener, Contemporary China Research Project

Keynote Speech

Luo Xiao-Ming — Associate Professor and Director, Department of Literary Studies, Shanghai University

Event Page

Speaker Notes — Keyword: Heading North (Běishàng)

Author: 劉柳燕Liu Liuyan (Graduate Student, Department of Chinese, Tamkang University)

In the Hong Kong context, “Northbound Travel” (北上) refers to the movement of people from Hong Kong, located in the south, to mainland China (also known as the “Mainland”), located to the north. Generally speaking, individuals or groups may choose to leave their original places of residence and move elsewhere to seek refuge or pursue a better quality of life due to factors such as war, politics, and economics. At different points in history, the motivations and purposes behind Hong Kong residents’ northbound movements have evolved in response to the differences and interactions between Hong Kong and the Mainland in terms of sovereignty, political consciousness, culture, and economics. As a keyword, “Northbound Travel” encompasses discussions of identity, politics, and the handover of Hong Kong from the perspective of Hong Kong. From the perspective of mainland China, it also involves economic strategies and considerations concerning political united front work and governance in Hong Kong. The tensions and integration between Hong Kong and mainland China are directly or indirectly reflected in this keyword.

When discussing relations between Hong Kong and mainland China, it is difficult to avoid the question of the “handover.” The issue of the handover can be traced back to the history of Hong Kong’s cession to Britain by the Qing government in 1842 under the Treaty of Nanking, which stipulated that the territory was ceded “in perpetuity.” In January 1940, Mao Zedong wrote in his essay “On New Democracy” (新民主主義論): “Since the nature of Chinese society today is colonial, semi-colonial, and semi-feudal, the Chinese revolution must proceed in two steps. The first step is to transform this colonial, semi-colonial, and semi-feudal society into an independent democratic society. The second step is to advance the revolution further and establish a socialist society…” Mao’s argument established the basic framework for the fundamental question of “Where is China headed?” In 1972, Huang Hua, the representative of the People’s Republic of China to the United Nations, wrote to the chair of the UN Special Committee on Decolonization, declaring that “Hong Kong and Macao are the results of a series of unequal treaties imposed on China by imperialism and left over from history. Hong Kong and Macao are part of Chinese territory occupied by the British and Portuguese authorities…” In this context, the “return” of Hong Kong became a crucial component of the “1840 historical perspective,” reflecting the continuity of the historical narrative upheld since the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

With Hong Kong’s handover in 1997 as a turning point, the most significant shift in the meaning of “Northbound Travel” was its transformation from movement between two territories under different sovereign powers into movement within a single sovereign state. The two places initially moved toward integration through the shared identity of “Chinese citizens.” However, as early as the 1970s and 1980s, when Hong Kong’s economy was experiencing rapid growth, mainland China had also embarked on its “reform and opening-up” policy and established a “Special Economic Zone” in Shenzhen, adjacent to Hong Kong. At the time, “Northbound Travel” referred to the phenomenon of large numbers of Hong Kong-funded companies moving into Guangdong Province to establish factories. The “northbound wave” of Hong Kong residents in 2023, by contrast, refers to the trend of Hong Kong residents traveling north to spend money in mainland China following the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions. This wave of northbound travel has sparked not only controversy over the implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Law and the official narrative of Hong Kong “moving from stability to prosperity,” but also a backlash against the high prices and rents resulting from Hong Kong’s longstanding economic conditions.