We will argue that recent Chinese migration to the Czech Republic is an evolving phenomenon. Its complex nature is conditioned by two factors, namely, absence of an active migration policy in the Czech Republic, which discourages foreigners from settling on a permanent basis, and Chinese migrants' perception of the Czech Republic as merely a gateway to the European Union (EU). While waiting for an opportunity to enter the EU or for the EU to embrace the Czech Republic, the Chinese make little effort to forge a formal community or integrate themselves into society. Prevented by Czech law from settling down, and at the same time eyeing opportunities elsewhere, Chinese were predetermined to remain outsiders or-to borrow Georg Simmel's concept2-"strangers," whose physical presence in the Czech Republic, coupled with their "strange" origins and culture, results in a combination of proximity and apartness, closeness and distance vis-à-vis the majority society. While waiting for their turn to leave the Czech Republic, the Chinese remain unattached to the land and-in a metaphorical sense-out of place. They are not recognized as individuals but as strangers of a certain type belonging to the cluster of many other strangers, read through the prism of stereotyped images, defined as unknown, unreachable, even undesirable, yet still next-door neighbors.

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Czech Republic Acculturation social behavior immigrant population