Shifting selves: home beyond the house

The proportion of national and international population in the older ages continues to increase. Such a population trend towards ageing around the world has evoked great discussions on ageing and aged care. For example, the notion of positive ageing promotes ideas that older people have skills, knowledge and experience to contribute to society and the expected growth in the proportion of older people provides society with a valuable resource. While it appreciates aspects of older age that people share in common, this paper highlights the ways in which people might age differently by focusing on experiences of a group of older Chinese immigrants who move to New Zealand in their later life. The methods of data collection and analysis are informed by a narrative approach. Initial and follow‐up interviews were conducted with thirty two older Chinese migrants from April 2008 to September 2009. This paper explores older Chinese immigrants' lived housing experiences and investigates the role filial piety plays in their ageing in place in New Zealand. Stressing the cultural influences on ageing experiences, this paper considers the hybrid and shifting selves and identities that the older Chinese immigrants develop as they grow older in a Western culture. The social, cultural and material contexts of everyday life provide the bases for these considerations. Specific emphasis is placed on four themes: home‐making, acculturation, evolution of filial piety and ageing in new place