Means of Livelihood and Living Space of Registered Burmese Nationals Living in the Towns in the Sino—Burmese Border Area

Tian+Suqing

（Science and Technology Division， Yunnan Minzu University， Kunming， 650500 ，China）

JOURNAL OF ETHNOLOGY， VOL. 8， NO.1， 75-83， 2017 （CN51-1731/C， in Chinese）

DOI：10.3969/j.issn.1674-9391.2017.01.09Abstract：Against the background of good border trade policies and the prosperous economy of China， and in addition to the ethnic groups who have lived along the border for generations， a large number of Burmese nationals have entered the Sino-Burmese border area， seeking opportunities to work， trade and live. Among the population of foreigners living in China， Burmese nationals take fourth place. They are mainly distributed in the Sino-Burmese border areas. Based on an in-depth investigation of the Burmese nationals who have crossed the border and live in the Ruili National Development Experimental Zone， the paper points out the structural differences between those Burmese nationals who belong to Cross-border Ethnic Groups and those who are cross-border migrants and who concentrate in and ethnic enclaves. It also specifies their different means of livelihood， living spaces and religious practices.

The survey shows that the Burmese nationals who belong to Cross-border Ethnic Groups can be traced back to the official border demarcation of the two countries in 1960， when they migrated to towns and farms in Ruili， mainly through marriage， and made their living by engaging in traditional agriculture， selling petty commodities， trading agricultural products， opening traditional restaurant/guest houses， offering tourism services or starting family handicraft workshops. They mainly speak their ethnic minority language， and are able to understand some Chinese. They are bound together by the same religious beliefs inside and outside of China. According to the investigation， since the marriage registration for Sino-Burmese Border Area in 2006， at the end of 2014， there are 2331 registered transnational couples in Ruili City， all of whom are Burmese nationals who live along the border. Except for some Han People who married other ethnic peoples， the rest of the ethnic groups were endogamous. According to my field survey， which was confirmed by local woman cardees， the number of cross-border marriages in Ruili is actually much higher than this statistic. This is because， for a variety of reasons， a substantial number of couples did not go to the registration office.

As for the Burmese who are cross-border migrants and who concentrate in ethnic enclaves， they are mostly Burman， Sino-Burmese， Burmese Indians and Burmese Pakistanis， and Arakanese. Since Chinas 1992 policy to open the border， the Jiegao Bridge connecting China and Burma was built， and this group of people began to enter China. In recent years， with the industrial transformation and development in the Ruili area， as well as the better social environment， more and more Burmese nationals have crossed the border and settled down in Ruili， making a living by buying（or renting） houses， selling raw materials for jewelry and jade， processing Rosewood， and working as factory workers， construction workers， waiters and waitresses， and peddlers， etc. They mainly speak Burmese （Sino-Burmese are bilingual）. Influenced and dominated by government policies， their choices of living areas are related to their ethnic identity， religious beliefs and economic power. The city of Ruili has undoubtedly left its mark.

In summary，although the “human migration” of a “Transnational class” under the background of globalization， including -immigrants， migrant laborers， and migrant businessmen， “Transnational social space” has been constructed in various megalopolis like Beijing， Shanghai， Guangzhou and Shenzhen， a more complicated means of livelihood and living space has been constructed by those Burmese nationals “who belong to Cross-border Ethnic Groups”， and those Burmese nationals who cross the border as migrants and live in ethnic enclaves in the border cities and towns of Yunnan and Burma.

Key Words：Sino-Burmese Border， Ruili， Burmese nationals， means of livelihood， living space.

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