Abstract: The return of rural migrants helps alleviate human capital shortages in agricultural heritage system. To capitalize on this potential, it is crucial to ensure their stable reintegration, thereby effectively leveraging this workforce in heritage conservation. Taking Xinghua Duotian in Jiangsu Province as an example, this study employs a mixed-method approach combining questionnaires, statistical description, and qualitative data to analyze the career transition and post-return adaptation of rural migrants in heritage tourist destinations. The findings show that: (1) Most rural migrants shift from migrant work to agricultural production or self-employment, often developing pluriactive livelihoods through the combination of agricultural production and non-agricultural activities. This pattern reflects a broader career trajectory that is diversified, pluriactive, and increasingly oriented toward tourism. (2) Skills and capital accumulated during migration have a significant impact on post-return career development, which helps them to engage in tourism and other activities to maintain or even enhance their occupational status. (3) The adaptation of rural return migrants is at a moderate level, showing a structural feature of the highest level of living adaptation and the lowest level of economic adaptation. (4) Rural return migrants with better career development exhibit improved reintegration, and different career transitions affect the overall adaptation through economic dimension. The study enhances understanding of how tourism development shapes rural migration and career mobility, with implications for heritage conservation and rural talent retention.

Key words: career transition, post-return adaptation, tourism development, rural return migrants, agricultural heritage conservation