This recent and major influx of Dalu ren into Hainan has clearly contributed to the increasing social tensions which have developed and are still evolving between the old time local Han Hainan ren and the newly-settled Han Dalu ren with their mainland socio cultural ethos. Utilizing analytical framework and concepts from Anthony Giddens' structuration theory and Bourdieu's notions of symbolic domination, this paper will focus on the recent structuring of ethnic boundaries between Hainan ren and a generalized set of Dalu ren in both historical and personal contexts. For example, the mainlanders' organization of the International Coconut Festival clearly points to elite mainlanders' attempts to define a new Hainan identity which includes mainlanders like themselves. This new research builds upon my earlier long term minority majority relations research in Hainan. The conflicting voices can allow us to better understand the nature and logic of ethnicity in China.
Discourse is also different because it is part of the debate on nationalism and independence.
This discourse must, however, address the obvious cultural and linguistic commonalities between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits which became obvious with the cross strait exchanges after 1987. This paper presents evidence that while mainland Chinese view Taiwanese tourists and investors as simply Chinese from another province, Taiwanese view themselves as more like foreigners when in China. At the same time that Taiwanese is often viewed as a regional form of Chinese culture, another discourse views Taiwanese identity as an alternate identity that challenges mainland Chinese ideas of Han unity. The Taiwan case problematizes concepts of Chinese nationalism and identity, and challenges the assumption that ethnic identity in China is a hierarchy of regionalism. The post 1980 reform era in China unleashed migration streams which have headed coastward and inundated many a county in Guangdong Province.