當大部分移民研究著重在前往已開發國家的人群，預設並討論族群差異對移居生活的影響時，本文是以進入開發中國家的人群為對象，討論階層差異對移居生活的影響。根據筆者2004-2005年與2008-2009年對東莞與上海兩地單身臺灣女性的觀察，筆者發現雖然受訪者來自臺灣社會的不同階層，但是在當地都居於相對較高的社會地位。受訪者與當地人的階層差距，不是促成移居的主要動機，卻對定居的意願造成影響，特別展現在與當地男性的交往意願上。 對於受訪者而言，她們在當地社會的階層位置，主要取決於現居地（東莞或上海）與原居地（臺灣／臺北）在兩岸間的相對位階，以及臺灣人社群在中國大陸當地社會的位置。這樣相對優勢的階層位置，降低了受訪者與當地深入互動的意願，特別是與當地男性交往的意願。受訪者認為她們與當地男性的階層差距，不僅是經濟上消費能力的差距，更是文化上日常生活品味與感知氣息的差距，形成一種「不是不願融入，而是拒絕向下融入」的現象。 本研究從微觀的角度，討論階層位置對移居生活的影響，進而回答過去研究中「為什麼不願意融入」的問題。認為除了常討論的族群差異外，階層差異更可能影響移居生活，此一發現將有助於延伸既有的移民研究與臺商研究。

The author argues that class position is an important but neglected aspect of developing cross-border migration, especially for people moving from more- to less- developed countries. Single professional Taiwanese females in China are one such group of migrants. It is helpful to examine the influence of class on migration when the class gap between the migrants and the host society is obvious but the gap in ethnicity is little. Most of the supporting information was gathered during informal but in-depth interviews with 14 single Taiwanese women in Dongguan and Shanghai, supplemented by data from ethnography on interviewees' daily lives in 2004-2005 and 2008-2009. The data indicate that despite these Taiwanese respondents' diverse backgrounds, all respondents had class position higher than most local Chinese. Due to this class gap, respondents were reluctant to mix with the locals, especially in terms of dating with Mainland Chinese men, unless these Chinese were definitely from the privileged class. Without the proper social life and intimate relationships, most respondents felt lonely and reluctant to settle down. The finding of class influence on immigrants' daily lives has been little explored in the field of migration. It not only explains why respondents were reluctant to integrate with the host society, but also suggests a new direction of research for the fields of migration studies and class studies in the future.