Reflecting the region’s increasing prominence, Asia is becoming an important focal point where a myriad of ‘new’ mobilities can be unearthed and analyzed. From the revival of the ancient Silk Road for freight (Calder, 2012), to the growing complexity of Asian migrations within and beyond the region (Amrith, 201 I; Fielding, 2016; Nyiri and Tan, 2016), Asia has captured the imagination of academics, commentators, and policymakers alike as a milieu where the rapid circulation of people, goods and ideas has gained considerable moment un1. Yet, despite these transformations, the ‘new’ mobilities turn (Cresswell, 2006; Sheller and Urry, 2006) has been less than responsive to the pron1ise of this contextual shift. Having first found currency in Western Europe (especially Brita in and Scandinavia) and North America, n1uch of this work remains rooted in the specific interests, agendas, and critiques tethered to the politics and practices of these societies (Lin, 2016). Consequently, this research tends to coalesce around particular issues, like risk, security, infrastructural disruptions, sustainability, and continuity interactions in Western multicultural contexts. This mismatch between scholarly interest and the quickened events taking place in Asia calls for a renewed approach that would take the latter more seriously as a field of research. Indeed, while ubiquitously experienced, mobilities do not assume universal forms but take on new significances when they meet the road ‘else where’ (Cresswell, 2014).
