land. In those urban villages whose farmland is not yet been requisitioned by the state, they usually rent it out to outside investors for rent money. As long as getting the rent on time in full amount, village committees and local peasant do not usually bother to check what kind of business their tenants are running. As a result, urban villages become the locales for informal economies in the city. For Example, Pi village is a typical one among these urban villages. Nowadays, on the previous farmland or Pi villages, there are over 200 small factories with very suspicious legal status. Most of these underground factories have not registered with the Bureau of Commerce and thus do not pay tax to the state. Their products are often cheap and of low qualities. Workers in these small factories are often short time workers who seek for a temporary job. In contemporary Pi village, these 200 factories are on different scales, ranging from a family-run factory of four people to factories with over forty workers. These factories produce varieties of products, including doors, windows, furniture, feminine hygiene products, clothes, and so on. However, there is no way an outsider can tell the kind and scale of the factory. Each factory is hidden in its won factory yard. There were no signs or name tags (changpai) in front of any of these factories indicating the name and specialties of these factories. At the front gate of each factory yard, a big and threatening dog seems to be the standardized setup. Whenever a stranger is approaching the factory, insiders will instantly know. 5. Places on the Move Even though Chinese urban villages exist at the margins of the state and maintain relative autonomy, it does not mean they can remain intact when the state start to implement gentrification campaigns. On the contrary, because of urban villages’ autonomy, they usually
land. In those urban villages whose farmland is not yet been requisitioned by the state, they usually rent it out to outside investors for rent money. As long as getting the rent on time in full amount, village committees and local peasant do not usually bother to check what kind of business their tenants are running. As a result, urban villages become the locales for informal economies in the city. For Example, Pi village is a typical one among these urban villages. Nowadays, on the previous farmland or Pi villages, there are over 200 small factories with very suspicious legal status. Most of these underground factories have not registered with the Bureau of Commerce and thus do not pay tax to the state. Their products are often cheap and of low qualities. Workers in these small factories are often short time workers who seek for a temporary job. In contemporary Pi village, these 200 factories are on different scales, ranging from a family-run factory of four people to factories with over forty workers. These factories produce varieties of products, including doors, windows, furniture, feminine hygiene products, clothes, and so on. However, there is no way an outsider can tell the kind and scale of the factory. Each factory is hidden in its won factory yard. There were no signs or name tags (changpai) in front of any of these factories indicating the name and specialties of these factories. At the front gate of each factory yard, a big and threatening dog seems to be the standardized setup. Whenever a stranger is approaching the factory, insiders will instantly know. 5. Places on the Move Even though Chinese urban villages exist at the margins of the state and maintain relative autonomy, it does not mean they can remain intact when the state start to implement gentrification campaigns. On the contrary, because of urban villages’ autonomy, they usually
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