The internal migration of its population is the most dynamic demographic phenomenon in China today. Investigating this, Caroline Hoy's detailed book integrates description and analysis, and incorporates a wide range of sources (both Chinese and English), from census and survey data to personal testimonies.

Author Caroline Hoy examines the impacts of migration on the individual and on communities, as well as the relationship between migration and the wider society. She positions migration within the processes of urbanization, modernization and cultural change. The implications of this migration for development and change in China are discussed in depth, along with the way in which the Chinese experience extends existing ideas about the place of migration in the process of social and economic transition.