Constructing a sense of home: Older Chinese migrants ageing in a foreign land

Abstract

This article explores the meaning of home to older Chinese migrants and what they do to construct a sense of home as they live and age in Australia. We conducted in-depth interviews with 20 older Chinese migrants (80 per cent aged 60+), who were born in mainland China and Hong Kong. Unlike the traditional interview method, we asked each participant to provide two photographs, which signified the concept of home to them and used these as visual elicitations for interviews. The findings from an inductive thematic analysis of the data show that the location of their adult children, home gardens, and cultural objects play a significant role in giving the participants a feeling of home in Australia. The study highlights that ageing in a foreign land involves older migrants’ continuous (re)integration of people and places in both the old country of origin and the new country of resettlement.

Keywords

ageing Chinese migrants home identity place

With the global population aged 60 and over being expected to rise from 962 million in 2017 to 2.1 billion in 2050 (UN News, 2017), internationally, ageing policies encourage older people to age in place, which refers to older people living in their own homes and community for as long as possible rather than in residential care (Frank, 2002). While there are obviously health and economic benefits in living later life in one’s own home, greater demands are placed on the family and community to support older people to age well. Sociological research, particularly in the fields of environmental gerontology, argues that attachment to home is especially significant for older people’s health and well-being because of the greater amount of time they spend at home, and the significance of home in preserving a sense of identity, belonging and independence in older age (Chaudhury and Rowles, 2005). However, much literature in gerontology has examined the concept of home for older people ageing in their homeland, and there is limited research on how older migrants construct a sense of home as they age in a foreign land (Torres, 2013).

This study aims to advance an understanding of how the meaning of home is constructed by older Chinese migrants in Australia, who are operationally defined in this study as older migrants who were born in mainland China or Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR). The acculturation literature proposes that cultural transition associated with migration creates a sense of being out of place for migrants due to loss of connections with people, culture, language, and familiar environment in the country of origin (Berry, 1997). Yet, it is far from clear how those migrants, particularly older migrants, rebuild a sense of identity and belonging in a foreign land that they presently call home. We conceptualize older migrants’ acculturation as constructing a sense of home in the new country and explore the processes through which older Chinese migrants rebuild social connections, identity and belonging as they age in Australia. This study contributes to existing literature by integrating gerontology with acculturation theories to advance knowledge of ageing experiences. The research questions are: (1) What does home mean to older Chinese migrants in Australia? and (2) How do they construct a sense of home as they age in a foreign land?

Acculturation as a process of constructing a sense of home

Acculturation for migrants is a complex life-long journey which involves physical and social changes as they adjust to a new culture, such as learning a new language, establishing social connections, and shifting old cultural expectations (Berry, 1997). Despite some similarities in challenges faced by migrants across cultures, acculturation is not a universal process for all migrants (Ward and Lin, 2010). Instead, migrants’ acculturation experiences can vary across differences in demographic characteristics, ethnic cultural backgrounds and the acculturation contexts in the settlement country, among various other factors.

Although migrants of all age groups deal with the challenge of rebuilding a sense of identity and belonging in a new country, the feeling of social isolation tends to be stronger for older migrants because most of them are retired from the workforce, and are likely to experience greater difficulties in dealing with the challenges, such as language barriers and loss of valued social networks (Park and Kim, 2013). Addressing these challenges involves rebuilding a sense of home in the settlement country (Park et al., 2019). Generally, there are two categories of older Chinese migrants in Australia: those who immigrated at a younger age and have grown old in Australia, and those who moved to Australia at an older age (around 60 years of age) to join their adult children in order to be close to their children as they age. Often, the latter category of older Chinese migrants helps with looking after their grandchildren, at least when they initially arrive, as they are likely to live in their adult children’s house. Both categories of older Chinese migrants face the challenge of cross-cultural adjustment in the context of ageing, although some previous research found that those who made their migration journey at an older age experienced more difficulties in building a strong sense of belonging, compared to those who migrated at a younger age (Liu et al., 2019).

Traditional Chinese culture values the idea of family members living together under the same roof. The concept of home is multidimensional, including physical, social and relational aspects. Building on this assumption, we propose that a sense of home for older Chinese migrants is constructed through meaning-making and story-telling as family members interact with each other and the local environment. This social constructionist perspective is aligned with the focus of this study, which is to understand the meaning of home to older Chinese migrants and what they do to create a sense of home through lived experiences as they undergo the acculturation process.

As a physical location, home provides its residents with a feeling of security, which can occur through a continuation of living in a familiar neighbourhood, freedom to arrange furniture, and choice of being surrounded by familiar memories (Dahlin-Ivanoff et al., 2007). Previous research revealed that a home with all of its objects, emotions and functions becomes ‘a warehouse of memories, connecting past and present self’ (Stones and Gullifer, 2016: 458). This feeling of being at home cultivates a sense of belonging to the place where one resides. Moreover, a sense of home also extends to the surrounding neighbourhood (Wiles et al., 2012). For example, interactions with neighbours and familiarity with the local environment (e.g. shops and restaurants) may play a significant role in making people feel at home in their neighbourhood and community. Social engagement of older people has been found to reduce loneliness and enhance psychological well-being (e.g. happiness, health, satisfaction in life) (Park et al., 2019).

Relationships with familial members and friends in social networks play a pivotal role in making older people feel at home. It is emotionally comforting to be with family members who share a cultural heritage and practice that are passed on from generation to generation (Hoersting and Jenkins, 2011). Socially, it is common to see older Chinese migrants choose to live in ethnic enclaves where they are close to friends and neighbours of the same ethnic background (Wang et al., 2018). It is through these familial and social relationships that older Chinese migrants maintain continuity of their ethnic culture in the settlement country. However, intergenerational differences in adherence to traditional culture are felt among older Chinese migrants. For example, older Chinese in the city of Montreal in Canada were found to hold a strong desire to adhere to filial piety, which means younger generations looking after their elderly parents (Gui and Koropeckyj-Cox, 2016). This view held by older generations of Chinese migrants may not be shared by their adult children, who have acculturated into the western culture more rapidly than the older generation and who may see their filial piety as a matter of providing financial support rather than being a personal carer (Mui and Kang, 2006).

Further, home for migrants is a combination of the old home in their homeland and the new home in the foreign land, as they maintain their family and social relationships in both countries (Blunt and Dowling, 2006). In an earlier study of African migrants in Montreal, Toronto and Winnipeg, Baffoe (2009) found that participants maintained their ethnic culture in the host country through cultural objects, foods, and connections with ethnic cultural groups in their community. Similarly, a study in Australia showed that Chinese migrants used cultural decorations and traditional food to maintain the continuity of their ethnic culture in the host country (Liu, 2015). These research findings show that ethnic cultural traditions continue among migrants and they move virtually or physically between the old and new cultures to maintain a sense of home (Green et al., 2008). However, what we lack is the knowledge of how older migrants move between cultures to build a sense of home. Drawing on empirical data, this article contributes to the existing literature by advancing understandings of what home means to older Chinese migrants in Australia and what they do to build a sense of home in a foreign land.

Methodology

Purposive and snowball sampling was used to recruit participants in this study. We initially contacted people aged 60 and above in our social networks, including friends, relatives, and people we met at social events organized by local Chinese communities. Then we asked these people to refer us to their friends and contacts to source potential interview participants. This resulted in 20 older Chinese migrants who consented to participate in the study. We asked each of them to provide us with two photographs that signified the concept of home to them, and then used those photographs as elicitation tools and discussion points for interviews. This approach was informed by the photovoice method Wang and Burris (1997) used in assessing needs in public health promotion involving focus group discussions among community members in Yunnan Province of China. Due to mobility and logistic constraints, we conducted individual interviews instead of focus groups because this method enabled us to explore the nuances of individual experiences as participants felt more relaxed to share their stories at individual interviews. It also allowed more time to be devoted to each participant. Data analysis focused on interview narratives instead of photographs, but photographs functioned as tools to help ease participants into discussing the meaning of home from their perspectives.

Participants

Of the 20 participants, 7 males (35 per cent) and 13 females (65 per cent), 18 moved to Australia from mainland China and two from Hong Kong. The earliest arrival was in 1975 and the most recent was in 2016, with an average length of 11.85 years of residence in Australia. The two Hong Kong-born participants provided interesting comparative data on the potential impact of migration age on a sense of home and belonging because they migrated to Australia at a younger age (in their 30s and early 40s) than those from mainland China. They were also the only participants with Australian citizenship status. In addition, the two Hong Kong-born participants did not move to Australia to join their children, and they were not living with their children at the time of interviews. Participants from mainland China were mostly permanent residents in Australia, with some who arrived within the past five years holding a temporary visiting visa as they waited for their qualification or approval of permanent residency. Most of the participants (75 per cent) indicated that their main purpose for migration was to join their adult children in Australia. Indeed, seven (35 per cent) of the participants lived with their adult children at the time of interviews, and another seven (35 per cent) initially lived with their adult children but moved out to live independently. In relation to age, the youngest participant was 55 and the oldest 83 years old, with an average age of 68.95 years. We retained the four participants aged under 60 for the study, despite our original target group of 60+. This was because three of these four participants moved to Australia to live with their children after retirement, and this would provide useful data on the meaning of home (see characteristics of participants in Appendix).

Interview questions and procedures

Semi-structured interviews were around the two research questions (what home means to older Chinese migrants and what they do to build a sense of home in Australia). However, given we used photographs as visual elicitation, we did not ask exactly the same set of questions to every participant because photographs were different, and some interviewees needed more prompts than others. Interview questions for each participant were around the photographs the participant provided and then expanded to a broader discussion about their cultural identity, belonging, and the significance of home in Australia. Example questions included ‘Can you tell me something about this photo?’, ‘Why do you think this photo gives you a feeling of home in Australia?’, ‘When you think of the word home, what kind of things come into your mind?’, and ‘What kind of things do you do to give yourself a feeling of home in Australia?’ Through personal contact we selected three older Chinese migrants in Brisbane, and pilot tested the main questions with them to ascertain the clarity of questions. Pilot interviewees were born in mainland China but migrated to Australia permanently at the time of interview. We adjusted the wording of some questions in Chinese based on their feedback and noted the approximate time they needed to comfortably answer key questions. The pilot sample was not included in the dataset for the actual study.

The 20 interviews were conducted in participants’ preferred language in May 2018: 18 in Mandarin, one in Cantonese (Hong Kong-born participant), and another one in a mixture of Mandarin and Cantonese (Hong Kong-born participant). Fourteen interviews (70 per cent) were conducted face to face at participants’ homes in Brisbane; interviews with those who lived outside Brisbane (e.g. Gold Coast and Toowoomba in Queensland, Central Coast in New South Wales) were conducted over the phone or WeChat (a popular social media mobile app). We asked them to send us their photographs before interviews. Video interviews allowed us to maintain as closely as possible the effect of face-to-face interviews. On average, each interview was one hour in length; they were digitally recorded and transcribed in Chinese characters for analysis.

Data analysis

All researchers involved in this study were native Chinese speakers. We analysed the data in Chinese to avoid any potential loss of meanings in translation. Only the quotes that were cited were translated from Chinese into English. An inductive thematic analysis technique was adopted, which has proven to be effective in identifying themes that emerge from qualitative data (Boeije, 2002). Drawing on Braun and Clarke’s (2006: 79) definition of thematic analysis as, ‘a method for identifying, analyzing, and reporting patterns (themes) within data’, we undertook three iterative steps to identify themes emerging from the interviews: (1) to immerse ourselves in the data through comprehensive and repeated reading, assigning initial codes to sentences or paragraphs by using the participants’ own words; (2) to develop a set of researcher codes using the researcher’s words based on the patterns emerging at the first step; and (3) to form and refine the themes derived from the previous two steps. Themes were identified on the basis that they consistently furthered our knowledge of the meaning of home and home-building. In adherence to ethical clearance conditions, we assigned an identification number to each participant and used those numbers to identify extracts in reporting results.

Results

Three key themes emerged through data analysis: (1) ‘Home is where my children are’; (2) ‘Home is where I continue my old self in the new country’; and (3) ‘Home is where I maintain Chinese culture.’

Theme 1: ‘Home is where my children are’

Theme 1 speaks to the importance of being close to their children in creating a sense of home for participants. Fifteen participants (75 per cent), all from mainland China, indicated that they migrated to Australia for the sake of being with their children who moved to Australia before them or with them. As their adult children started their own family, they took up the role of looking after their grandchildren. One participant who migrated to Australia to join her daughter five years before told us:

I mainly live here now because my only daughter is here. This is the centre of my life…. My home is where my children are! I don’t feel lonely. Home is where I live with my daughter. (02, female, aged 78)

Although at the time of interview, some participants did not live with their children and grandchildren, they tried to spend as much time as possible with their grandchildren. They felt that the reason for them to immigrate to Australia was to be with their children’s family. One participant who migrated to Australia seven years before with his wife, who also participated in this study, said:

We came here mainly for the purpose of helping my son to look after our grandsons. Now they [the grandsons] are older; we look after them three days a week, my in-laws look after them two days a week, and my son and daughter-in-law look after them on weekends. My home is where my son is. (09, male, aged 68)

His wife added, ‘Our sense of belonging came from where my son and grandsons are. They are here, and so we belong to here’ (08, female, aged 67). The quotes from this couple revealed the importance of blood ties in developing a sense of belonging to Australia. Even those who did not live with their children recognized the importance of children and grandchildren in giving them a sense of home, as expressed by another participant,

The most important thing is that my children are here. Although we don’t live in the same house, we often see each other. They visit me on weekends. My children are here, and this place is my home…. Blood ties are important. (15, female, aged 78)

Although some participants recognized that part of their sense of home was associated with China because they were born there (12, male, aged 71) and it was where their roots are (07, female, aged 60), this sense of belonging to China decreased for those participants whose children were all in Australia or who did not have any relatives in China. A participant who moved to Australia 14 years before with her husband in order to unite with their daughter’s family told us:

My home is in Australia. I don’t have a home in China any more. I don’t have any relatives there, only a few friends, and some pensions. I already purchased my graveyard here in Australia. I will spend the rest of my life here. (13, female, aged 78)

Her husband, who also participated in the study, further explained how his sense of home and belonging to China changed after their daughter moved to Australia:

We used to live with my daughter in China; I felt a sense of home there. Later, my daughter moved to Australia; I feel here is my home now. (14, male, aged 83)

The quotes from this couple highlighted the importance of family togetherness in creating a sense of home. On the other hand, if family members were not in one place, their sense of home could be split between different places. One participant described how her sense of home was split between Australia and China and expressed her feeling of the importance of family togetherness in constructing a complete sense of home:

The only difference of my home in Australia compared with my old home in my hometown Zhongshan in China is that we are not a complete family here in Australia. I’m here with my elder daughter; my husband is with my younger daughter in China. My younger daughter does not like here. My elder daughter said that if I didn’t come to Australia, she would go back to China. My husband did not want my elder daughter to go back [because he believed Australia is a better place for her future]. Thus, I must make sacrifice to come here to keep her company. If we could be here as a complete family, it would be a much better life. (18, female, aged 55)

While participants from mainland China consistently emphasized the importance of being with their children, this view was not shared by the two Hong Kong-born participants. When asked about the meaning of home, one of them, who migrated to Australia 43 years previously to help relatives with business in Australia, described home as a place where they can enjoy freedom, live independently and have a social life. In relation to the role of children in giving them a sense of home, this participant said:

I don’t feel it important to live with children under the same roof. We all live our independent lives. My daughter is working in Hong Kong; my son is working in Taiwan. (04, male, aged 78)

The other Hong Kong-born participant had also moved to Australia to help relatives with business and resided in Australia for 35 years. They shared similar views:

I don’t see being with children as the most important thing. I live an independent life. My sons also live in Brisbane, but they are locals, born and grew up in Australia. (05, male, aged 71)

These differences in views of the Hong Kong-born participants regarding the importance of being with their children could be due to one or both possible reasons. First, they made their migration journey at a younger age (34 and 42, respectively) for the sake of doing business, unlike most mainland Chinese participants, who moved to Australia at a relatively older age to join their children’s family. Previous research shows that younger age at migration and longer length of residence in the host country can facilitate acculturation into the host culture (Zhou, 2014). They might be more acculturated into the Australia culture, which places greater value on independence, autonomy and freedom. Second, Hong Kong is characterized by a mixture of Chinese and Western cultures. Although a society of largely collectivistic culture, Hong Kong values elements of individualistic cultures such as freedom and independence. For example, while the idea of going to a residential aged care facility is considered socially acceptable in Hong Kong, it has long been regarded as a family rejection in mainland China (Chow, 2004).

Theme 2: ‘Home is where I continue my old self in the new country’

Theme 2 describes how the old self-identity was extended into the new Australian home. Before immigrating to Australia, most participants had lived in their own property in their home country. Moving to Australia required them, at least initially, to live either in their children’s house or in a rented property. Although we did not directly ask participants whether they owned the property they resided in, several of them expressed that ownership of a property gave them a feeling of grounding and belonging, even though some had not resided in Australia for a long time. One participant who moved to Australia three years before, when her daughter began to pursue higher education in Australia said:

As I live here longer, my feeling of belonging has increased. I feel a sense of grounding after I bought the house and have a place of our own to live in. (01, female, aged 60)

Similar feelings were expressed by a participant who had lived in Australia for several decades. He described how ownership of a property translated into his strong feeling of belonging to Australia:

When I migrated to Australia more than 30 years ago, I lived in the Gold Coast. I moved houses several times, but all in the Gold Coast area. It was not until we bought this house that I began to feel settled down. I no longer need others to offer accommodation to me. This is my own place, my own home. (05, male, aged 71)

Property ownership gave participants a feeling of extending the old home from their home country to the host country. The freedom of living in their own house in Australia motivated them to find ways to make their new home in Australia reminiscent of their old home in China as a way of continuing the old self in the new country. Several participants achieved this through cultivating gardens in the backyard. Home gardens were used to maintain cultural continuity and old self-identity because participants could grow plants that reminded them of their old home in China. Several participants grew Chinese vegetables, fruit trees and herbs. Some participants showed us pictures of their fresh produce from the garden (e.g. Asian vegetables). They enthusiastically talked about how their gardens became an avenue for self-identity and cultural continuity. Pointing to a photo of her garden in the backyard, one participant explained:

This is our backyard. I grow roses and orchid. They are easy to grow. They flower every year. In addition, I grow desert roses and passion fruit trees – they make me feel at home and I look at them every day. The first thing in the morning when I get up is to go to the garden. I can see them when I step out of the house, a very sweet feeling of home. (13, female, aged 78)

Another participant expressed:

I eat veggies I grow myself. I also give them to my grandchildren to eat. I used to grow veggies in my old hometown in the countryside of Wenzhou in China. But later we moved to the city and lived in high-rise apartments. It was not possible to grow veggies there. Now I’m in Australia; I can grow them again. This reminds me of my old hometown in the countryside of Wenzhou. (09, male, aged 68)

Similarly, another participant told us how the plants she grew in her garden helped to extend her home in China to her home in Australia:

I grow lots of plants and veggies in my garden. I grow lucky bamboos. Every time I see them, I feel the place is like my hometown. I grow the same lucky bamboos in my hometown. (20, female, aged 69)

These interview extracts showed that gardens represented more than a physical space, rather, they represented the emotional reward of having one’s own home. They were also a medium to express self-identity, as participants continued their old self through growing plants and vegetables. While the garden is rooted in the Australian soil, it is contrasted directly with their homeland, bringing back memories of the old home into the new one and expressing migrants’ desire to become rooted in the new land in a meaningful way (Mazumdar and Mazumdar, 2012).

Theme 3: ‘Home is where I maintain Chinese culture’

Theme 3 describes home as a place where ethnic culture is practised, maintained and passed on to younger generations. Several participants decorated their house with cultural objects, furniture, paintings with cultural meanings to remind them of their old home in China. One participant embroidered traditional Chinese arts on pieces of cloth, framed them and put them up on the wall as a way of maintaining Chinese culture (11, female, aged 71). Another participant had Chinese couplets and Chinese calligraphy on the wall (14, male, aged 83). When it was traditional festival season such as the Chinese New Year, they would often put up decorations outside the house, as one participant described:

During the Chinese New Year, we hang lanterns and fish-shaped cloth decorations to symbolize that there is always more than enough to eat and spend in the house every year [a Chinese tradition]. (10, female, aged 55)

As language is considered an integral part of Chinese culture, many participants wanted their younger generations to be able to speak Chinese as a vehicle for continuing the Chinese culture. One participant who continued to teach Chinese since she moved to Australia 14 years earlier described her passion for teaching Chinese:

I began to teach Chinese in China since I was 18 years old. I continued to teach Chinese after I moved to Australia. In 2010, I set up my own Chinese school on the ground floor of my house. I live upstairs. I have devoted my entire life to teaching Chinese. I taught Chinese in China and I teach Chinese in Australia. I hope Chinese children outside China can speak Chinese. (15, female, aged 78)

All seven participants who lived with their children at the time of interview highlighted the importance of home in preserving their ethnic culture. One participant showed us a picture of family outing and said:

What remains the same in Australia is our food culture. We eat Chinese rice, gluten rice balls and Chinese dumplings when living in my daughter’s house. This gives me a sense of belonging and makes me feel a Chinese in Australia. My son-in-law is Italian, but he likes to eat Chinese dumplings. (03, female, aged 59)

As a medium for practising their ethnic culture with other Chinese migrants, most participants chose to live in areas densely populated by residents of Chinese background. Ethnic enclaves gave them a sense of home beyond the house and made life more convenient for those who did not speak fluent English (Wang et al., 2018). Engagement with people of their own cultural background could reduce feelings of social isolation because social networks with people of the same cultural background gave them a sense of home in a foreign land. Several participants showed us photos taken with their friends at outings or gatherings to highlight the importance of maintaining social networks with other older Chinese migrants. Showing a photograph of a social gathering, one participant explained:

This photo is the friends we often gather with. We have similar background and can really talk well together. It is very important to have a group of friends like this. We used to live in non-Chinese suburbs, feeling very isolated. Most of the time we stayed at home because we had no friends. Later we moved to Sunnybank [a typical suburb densely populated by residents of Chinese background]; it is much better here. (14, male, aged 83)

Along the same lines, another participant showed us a photo taken at an event organized by friends from their hometown and said:

I came from Hunan; we have a Hunan hometown association here and we designed our own uniform for the association. We often gather for some social activities. This picture was taken at the ‘red chilli’ social event. We were wearing our uniforms. We miss China. China is still our home. We feel proud if China is strong. I feel wearing this uniform gives me a sense of belonging, by thinking of my hometown. (11, female, aged 71)

These findings showed that, despite having lived in Australia for years, participants recognized that their Chinese roots did not diminish with time. When we asked how they saw themselves culturally, 11 (55 per cent) self-identified as Chinese, nine (45 per cent) as Australian Chinese, and none self-identified as Australian only. They practised and maintained their ethnic culture at home and in communities; they passed on ethnic language to younger generations through setting up Chinese language schools for children born into Chinese families in Australia. This finding supported the argument in acculturation literature that migrants did not make a sharp break with their homeland upon migrating to a new country (Ward and Lin, 2010), and that home within and beyond the house functioned as a place for the practice and maintenance of ethnic cultural traditions.

Discussion

This study explored the meaning of home to older Chinese migrants in Australia and how they constructed a sense of home in a foreign land. The findings, based on interviews with 20 older Chinese participants, identified three key themes, which showed that attachment to place, material objects with emotional and cultural significance, and relationships with family and friends from the same ethnic cultural background collectively constructed their sense of home, identity and belonging in Australia.

The role of children in constructing a sense of home

As most participants migrated to Australia for the purpose of being with their adult children, the location of their children played a pivotal role in giving them a sense of home; in their words, their home is where their children are. Our study echoed the findings from earlier studies which showed that older Asian migrants in the USA were more likely to reside in extended family households, be cared for by family members, and contribute in various ways to the family on which they relied on for social and material support (Treas and Mazumdar, 2002). Such practice has continued to the present day in many Asian migrant families in immigrant-receiving countries like Australia. Many older Chinese migrants, particularly those who made their migration journey at a relatively older age, moved to the new country after retirement to join their children who had previously settled there.

Chinese culture places great value on the family unit. In contrast to the emphasis placed on individuals in most western societies, traditional Chinese culture regards the family, not the individual, as the basic social unit (Ward and Lin, 2010). Chinese individuals are taught from an early age to think of the family first and strive to maintain close and harmonious family relations (Hwang, 1999). Chinese people believe in the importance of supporting and assisting the family in ways such as helping siblings and relatives, looking after parents, and, by extension, helping the friends of family members when needed. Such emotional attachment and faithfulness to the family are viewed as a duty, not a choice, and such sense of responsibility is engrained into Chinese cultural identity (Ward and Lin, 2010).

The role of social networks in constructing a sense of home

The findings from this study showed that participants rebuilt their social networks to connect with others who were similar in ethnic background, age and migration experiences. For example, they participated in social activities organized by people from the same hometown in China, gathered with friends at restaurants, or visited friends’ houses. All these social activities were perceived as important for connecting older Chinese migrants to their ethnic culture and people, thereby developing a sense of home in the host country. When cultural transition occurs, migrants lose valued relationships with people from their country of origin and face the challenge of rebuilding social networks in their country of settlement. Building social networks with people of the same ethnic backgrounds and speaking the same ethnic language through diasporic communities can provide a link between home and host countries, thereby bridging the old and new self. Living in an ethnic enclave is a typical strategy that many Chinese migrants adopt (Wang et al., 2018). Most participants in this study chose to live in Chinese-concentrated residential areas such as Sunnybank, with easy access to Asian shops, restaurants and other services provided by people from Chinese or Asian backgrounds. In addition to convenience in navigating the local environment, particularly for those with limited English language proficiency, ethnic enclaves gave participants a feeling of belonging. Similarity in culture and physical appearances created emotional ties and a feeling of cultural continuity in the host country. Future research may explore the role of ethnic enclaves in facilitating acculturation among older migrants across different cultural groups.

The role of gardens in constructing a sense of home

One interesting finding from this study is the social and cultural function of home gardens. Some participants designed home gardens to reflect Chinese culture or to make gardens reminiscent of life in their hometown, such as growing lucky bamboos as they did in their hometown in China. Gardens kept memories of the past alive in the present home. Our findings provided support for a previous study, arguing that home gardens can function as spaces to preserve religion, culture, ecological nostalgia, and intergenerational linkages, based on ethnographic research of home gardens of immigrants in southern California from India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Iran, and China (Mazumdar and Mazumdar, 2012). The benefits of green spaces to older people’s well-being in general have also been documented in previous studies. For example, Raske (2010) found that gardens played a very positive role in the lives of older adults at a residential care facility in the US, particularly those with dementia, because gardens provided an avenue for residents to socially connect and led to increased enjoyment in life.

These findings pointed to the need for exploring the social and cultural potential of gardens in improving ageing experiences. Aged care service providers may consider creating garden spaces in residential areas to allow older migrant residents to have their own green spaces, and to socially connect and remember their homeland by growing vegetables culturally familiar to them. Such practice can help older migrants to build a sense of home and preserve cultural continuity. Maintaining cultural continuity in the host country is part of the acculturation process that migrants may undergo as their ethnic culture often continues through them, despite length of time living outside their homeland (Liu et al., 2019). Today, transnational ties are more easily maintained, thanks to advances in communication technologies, smartphones, internet-enabled devices and digital media. As migrants maintain transnational contacts, they continuously negotiate identities between their ‘old’ and ‘new’ cultures, continuing the old self into the new country and creating new configurations of identification with homes in both places.

Conclusion

Older migrants ageing in a foreign land face the challenge of cross-cultural adjustment over and above ageing. Addressing this challenge involves building a sense of home through negotiating identity, belonging, and rebuilding social networks in the host country. Although this exploratory study was based on a relatively small sample of 20 older Chinese migrants in Australia, the findings echoed previous research on older immigrants in other countries, such as the USA (Zhan et al., 2017). Our study reinforced the important role of connection to home country in facilitating older migrants’ constructing a sense of home in the host country. In exploring the lived experiences of older Chinese participants, this study contributes to the acculturation literature by advancing an understanding of culture-specific processes through which Chinese migrants assign meanings to their home in a foreign land. Such research enriches literature in acculturation and gerontology by elucidating processes through which home is experienced both as a location and as a set of relationships among older migrants ageing in a foreign land.

Footnotes

Appendix

Profile of participants.

ID	Gender	Age	Migration age	Place of origin	Living with children	Primary reason for migration
01	F	60	54	M. China	Yes	Be with children
02	F	78	72	M. China	Yes	Be with children
03	F	59	52	M. China	Yes	Be with children
04	M	78	34	Hong Kong	No	Help with business
05	M	71	42	Hong Kong	No	Help with business
06	M	60	45	M. China	No	Set up own business
07	F	60	55	M. China	Yes initially	Be with children
08	F	67	59	M. China	No	Be with children
09	M	68	60	M. China	No	Be with children
10	F	55	51	M. China	Yes	Be with children
11	F	71	56	M. China	Yes initially	Be with children
12	M	71	62	M. China	Yes initially	Be with children
13	F	78	63	M. China	Yes initially	Be with children
14	M	83	69	M. China	Yes initially	Be with children
15	F	78	63	M. China	Yes initially	Be with children
16	M	81	66	M. China	Yes initially	Be with children
17	F	82	74	M. China	No	Join brother in business
18	F	55	48	M. China	Yes	Be with children
19	F	55	52	M. China	Yes	Love the environment
20	F	69	65	M. China	Yes	Be with children

Note: M. China: mainland China.

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the two anonymous reviewers for their valuable suggestions for improving previous versions of this article.

Declaration of conflict of interest

The author(s) declared no potential conflict of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Ethical approval

This project has received ethics approval from the University of Queensland Humanities and Social Sciences, Low and Negligible Risk Ethics Sub-Committee (Approval number: 2018000602). This project complies with the provisions contained in the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research and complies with the regulations governing experimentation on humans.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was funded by the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia (2018) and the University of Queensland’s Transport and Population Research Network Seed Fund (2018).

ORCID iDs

Shuang Liu

Yan Liu

Author biographies

Shuang Liu is an associate professor in the School of Communication and Arts at the University of Queensland. Her expertise is in intercultural communication, specializing in ageing and immigration, acculturation, identity negotiation, and culturally appropriate care for older people from diverse cultural backgrounds.

Yan Liu is an associate professor in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Queensland. She is a spatial scientist and human geographer, specializing in Geographical Informational Science (GIS), spatial data analytics and complex systems modelling.

Siqin Wang is a postdoctoral research fellow in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Queensland. Her research interest is in urban geography, migration, climate change, travel behaviour, urban simulation and modelling, GIS and bid data application in social sciences and transportation planning.

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