茶馆观察:农村公共空间的复兴与基层社会整合

Observations at Tea Houses: The Renaissance of Public Spaces in Rural Regions and Social Integration at the Grass-Roots Level

In current Chinese rural areas there are no civil societies organized yet, but public spaces do exist. In the recent couple of decades, the public spaces in rural regions are developing with diversity, tea houses being the most active. In the middle and southern parts of Province Jiangxi, increased leisure time, coupled with changed views about leisure, has led to the custom of spending time at tea houses by rural residents, and a collective lifestyle of new consumer groups. Lively tea houses function not only as a “world of familiar folks” but also as a “world of freedom” for the farmers, having promoted the integration and stability at the grass-roots level. The operating rule of bottom-level society is embedded in these developing public spaces which are a convenient window for observing farmers’ social psychological drama and changes in rural societal structures. The rise and decline of public spaces such as tea houses are an outstanding manifestation and a result as well, of social changes in rural areas.