Later‑generation Chaoxian (ethnic Koreans) in China’s Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture grow up in an ethnic‑autonomous border region where cross‑border mobility and Korean cultural references are part of everyday life. Drawing on in‑depth interviews with 34 third‑ and fourth‑generation Chaoxian aged 21–35, this article examines how they use transnational leisure to sustain connections with Korea and negotiate ethnic identity. We analyse homeland travel, Korean media consumption, and participation in cultural events through an integrated framework that combines transnationalism and transnational leisure, the mobility paradigm, and the concept of third space. The findings show that geographic proximity, bilingual schooling, and local institutions normalise frequent cross‑border movement and mediate engagement with Korea, producing continuous rather than episodic forms of transnational leisure. Within these conditions, participants describe a hybrid ‘applepear’ identity – neither fully Chinese nor fully Korean – while simultaneously encountering othering and ambivalent recognition in both national contexts. The study advances leisure scholarship by foregrounding later‑generation migrants in a geographically proximate ethnic autonomous prefecture, demonstrating how such settings can sustain and rework transnational leisure and hybrid identifications across generations rather than leading to the gradual erosion of transnational ties.
Park et al. (Wed,) studied this question.