Beauty Practices and Cultural Identity Among Chinese Migrants in Portugal

Abstract

This ethnographic study explores the intricate relationships between beauty practices, cultural identity, and belonging among Chinese migrant communities in Portugal. Through participant observation and in-depth interviews conducted over 18 months in Lisbon's Chinatown and surrounding neighborhoods, this research reveals how beauty practices serve as both bridges and boundaries in the negotiation of cultural identity. The study demonstrates that beauty salons, traditional medicine practices, and aesthetic choices become sites of cultural preservation, adaptation, and innovation within diaspora communities. These findings contribute to our understanding of how embodied practices facilitate the construction of flexible citizenship and transnational belonging in contemporary migration contexts.

Introduction

The intersection of beauty, migration, and cultural identity has received limited attention within medical anthropological literature, despite its significance in understanding how migrant communities navigate belonging and citizenship in new cultural contexts. This study addresses this gap by examining the beauty practices of Chinese migrants in Portugal, focusing on how aesthetic choices serve as vehicles for cultural negotiation and identity construction.

Portugal's Chinese community, numbering approximately 25,000 individuals, represents one of the most established Asian diaspora populations in the country. Concentrated primarily in Lisbon and Porto, this community has developed a complex network of cultural institutions, businesses, and practices that facilitate both cultural preservation and adaptation to Portuguese society.

Beauty practices, broadly defined to include personal grooming, traditional medicine, cosmetic procedures, and aesthetic philosophies, emerge as particularly significant sites for understanding cultural identity construction among migrant communities. These practices are simultaneously deeply personal and profoundly social, connecting individual choices to broader cultural systems of meaning and belonging.

Methodology

This ethnographic study employed a multi-sited approach, conducting fieldwork across three primary locations in Lisbon: the traditional Chinatown area near Martim Moniz, the emerging Chinese business district in Olivais, and various beauty salons and traditional medicine clinics throughout the metropolitan area.

Data collection occurred over 18 months between January 2022 and June 2023, utilizing participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and visual ethnography methods. The study involved 45 primary participants, including beauty salon owners and workers, traditional medicine practitioners, cosmetics retailers, and community members who regularly engage with beauty services.

Participant observation was conducted in 12 beauty salons, 8 traditional medicine clinics, and 6 cosmetics shops, with an average of 4-6 hours per week spent in each location. Semi-structured interviews, conducted in Mandarin, Cantonese, and Portuguese, explored participants' personal beauty practices, cultural identity negotiations, and experiences of belonging in Portuguese society.

Ethical approval was obtained from the Portuguese National Ethics Committee, and all participants provided informed consent. Pseudonyms are used throughout this article to protect participant confidentiality.

Findings

The analysis reveals four key themes regarding how beauty practices function in the construction of cultural identity among Chinese migrants in Portugal.

First, beauty salons emerge as crucial cultural spaces that extend far beyond their commercial function. These establishments serve as community gathering points where information is shared, cultural traditions are maintained, and social networks are strengthened. Salon owners often act as informal community leaders, providing not only beauty services but also translation assistance, business advice, and emotional support to newer migrants.

Second, the integration of traditional Chinese medicine with contemporary beauty practices creates hybrid forms of cultural expression that reflect the transnational nature of migrant identity. Participants described how acupuncture, herbal treatments, and qi-based wellness practices are combined with Western cosmetic procedures and Portuguese beauty standards to create personalized approaches to self-care and aesthetic presentation.

Third, intergenerational differences in beauty practices reveal the dynamic nature of cultural identity construction within diaspora communities. While first-generation migrants often maintain stronger connections to traditional Chinese beauty ideals, second-generation Portuguese-Chinese individuals develop more hybrid approaches that incorporate elements from both cultural contexts while creating new forms of aesthetic expression.

Finally, beauty practices serve as vehicles for economic empowerment and social mobility within the Portuguese context. Many participants described how establishing beauty-related businesses allowed them to achieve financial independence while maintaining cultural connections to their community of origin.

Conclusion

This study demonstrates that beauty practices among Chinese migrants in Portugal function as complex sites of cultural negotiation, identity construction, and community building. Rather than simply representing either cultural preservation or assimilation, these practices reveal the dynamic and creative ways in which diaspora communities navigate belonging in transnational contexts.

The findings suggest that beauty practices should be understood as forms of cultural citizenship that allow migrants to maintain connections to their communities of origin while simultaneously engaging with their new social environments. This research contributes to broader theoretical discussions about flexible citizenship and transnational belonging by highlighting the embodied dimensions of cultural identity construction.

Future research should explore how these patterns manifest in other diaspora communities and contexts, as well as investigate the role of digital technologies in facilitating transnational beauty cultures. Additionally, policy implications regarding migrant integration and cultural diversity warrant further investigation, particularly in relation to how aesthetic practices can inform more inclusive approaches to multiculturalism in European contexts.