Within the ambidextrous migrant qiaoxiang, what factors govern a family’s choice of either internal or external migration? This may be a futile question in that it is considered prudent family strategy to reduce risk by diversifying. One can imagine an old Hokkien paterfamilias deciding to send one son to Batavia, another to Taiwan, and a third to Sichuan, depending on how he sizes up their talents and the needs of the family business.
