BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: As an emerging retirement model, lifestyle migration is garnering growing interest among China's middle-aged and older adults. However, existing research on the factors influencing willingness to engage in this form of migration remains fragmented and lacks comprehensive synthesis. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Following the PRISMA-ScR guidelines, a systematic search was conducted across CNKI, Wanfang, CQVIP, NSSD, Web of Science Core Collection, PubMed, Embase, and CINAHL Complete databases (from inception to 2026.03). The Population-Concept-Context (PCC) framework guided the inclusion and exclusion criteria, encompassing all studies on retirement relocation intentions and influencing factors among Chinese adults aged 45 and older adults. Two researchers independently screened the literature and extracted data, with findings synthesized through thematic analysis. RESULTS: 26 documents were included (25 Chinese, 1 English), published between 2014 and 2026, covering 16 Chinese provinces, municipalities, or autonomous regions. Most used cross-sectional designs and focused on urban residents (total sample = 9,452). Willingness rates ranged from 17.6% to 89.08%. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs was the most widely applied theory. Influencing factors fell into five categories: individual characteristics, family and social support, objective conditions of the destination, psychological and behavioral intentions, and institutional and structural constraints. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Existing studies preliminarily uncover the multidimensional mechanisms of travel-based retirement willingness but lack consistent measures and strong theoretical grounding. Future work should strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration, develop localized theoretical models, and address the needs of rural, older adults, and vulnerable populations to advance an inclusive aging care system. REGISTRATION DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/5SC2D.
Liu et al. (Tue,) studied this question.