In the past two decades, migration has become a quintessential feature defining the identity
and life experiences of millions of young rural women who have left their home villages and
migrated to urban areas for wage labor in China. However, due to the combined effects of
the state-instituted hukou system and women’s traditional gender roles of childcare and
household duties, many female migrants face difficult choices when it is time for them to get
married. In this study I examine the rise of a new marriage form among migrant couples in
Dongguan, a newly industrializing boomtown in the Pearl River Delta of Guangdong
province. I call this marriage a neo-local marriage as migrant couples set up their postmarital
residence in a destination locale that is thousands of miles away from their
hometowns. I first describe some of the new features of neo-local marriages for young migrant
couples in Dongguan. I then explore Dongguan’s boomtown status in the new economy, the
changing labor market, and young migrants’ agency as new forces behind the rise of this new
marriage form. Finally I discuss both the potential transformative power of a neo-local
marriage for young female migrants and the risks and constraints of this marriage for them
as well.