Understanding seasonal mobilities, health and wellbeing to Sanya, China.
Both the ageing of the Chinese population and elderly mobility impact on the Chinese social infrastructure, triggering challenges to maintain elderly wellbeing. This paper reflects on the notion that seasonal mobility promotes wellbeing, and explores how two crucial factors, namely, forced migration and health conditions, influence the relations between seasonal retirement mobility and wellbeing. This study analyses amenity-led seasonal retired mobilities to Sanya as a case study, and adopts and develops a conceptual framework for relations between mobility and wellbeing in terms of daily activity, sociality, and context through seasonal mobility. Qualitative methods including participant observation, non-participant observation, in-depth interviews, and mobile ethnography were used to collect data. This revealed the heterogeneity of health conditions, and the constrained mobilities of seasonal retirees. Health and willingness for mobility are shown as significant factors in influencing the relations between mobility and wellbeing, which are in turn complicated and dynamic. Seasonal mobilities bring about difficulties for retirees particularly in terms of their efforts to reconstruct their previous life and self-continuities. However, it is argued that these retirees can merely maintain temporary and superficial wellbeing due to constant health concerns and uncertainties over potential temporary or permanent return to their places of origin. Those with serious health problems have more limitations, sacrificing other aspects of wellbeing for physical health. Practical implications from state, destination, and individual levels to better facilitate seasonal mobility and promote wellbeing are provided.
Department of Geography and Geographic Information Science, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, United States; School of Tourism Management, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Lirong
L
Kou
School of Tourism Management, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China. Electronic address: xuhongg@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
Honggang
H
Xu
School of Business, Tourism Mobilities, Edinburgh Napier University, Craiglockhart Campus, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
Kevin
K
Hannam
D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002681:China; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D000073656:Healthy Aging / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D057187:Independent Living / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D011157:Population Dynamics; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012621:Seasons
Ageing; China; Health and wellbeing; Retirement; Sanya; Seasonal mobilities; Social support systems