Modernization theory suggests that capitalist urbanization leads to simplification of family forms. Two of the more common changes associated with urbanization are the increasing importance of nuclear families over extended families and the diminishing power of elders in the governing of family life. Yunxiang Yan has suggested that modernization (but not straightforward urbanization) has resulted in young women gaining considerable familial power even in rural villages. This paper examines changes in kinship practice and structure in a rapidly urbanizing county seat in the context of broader economic and infrastructural transformations. The paper compares and contrasts migrants from relatively nearby rural areas, who maintain close contact with their elders and often spend at least part of the week living in extended families, and migrants from further afield. Despite the differences between the two groups, traces of patriarchal family forms are visible in the practices of relatedness among both groups as is evidence of nuclearization. The paper concludes with questions about what it means to say that patriarchy is disappearing and the ways in which patriarchy continues even when the power of older men diminishes.