This chapter provides a brief review of migration patterns in pre-reform China, where population mobility primarily served political objectives. Following a short stage of free migration after the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), rural to urban migration became heavily restricted by the hukou system to ensure industrialization in the cities. At the same time, complex factors drove multiple waves of urban-to-rural migration, most notably the “Down to the Countryside” movement, which saw a large number of urban youths relocated to rural areas. These migration trends during this period reflect the state’s control over population movement and laid the groundwork for the enduring rural-urban inequality that persists today.