This book provides readers with the first survey of social conditions since the opening of the borders between China and mainland Southeast Asia in the early 1990s, which saw radical changes in the economic policies of the various states involved, in particular, China, Vietnam, and Laos. Each chapter provides a close-up survey of a particular area and problem, but cumulatively they provide an invaluable general picture of social and cultural change in the border regions where China meets Southeast Asia.

Grant Evans is Reader in Anthropology, Department of Sociology, University of Hong Kong.

Chris Hutton is Senior Lecturer in Linguistics, Department of English, University of Hong Kong.

Kuah Khun Eng is Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Department of Sociology, University of Hong Kong.