Big cities always seem to have certain services which are dominated by specific ethnic groups. Japanese gardeners are stereotypical to clichéd on the west coast of the US. Polish tuckpointers in Chicago. Irish bartenders or policemen in NYC or Boston. In Buenos Aires, small supermarkets are so dominated by Chinese immigrants that even is the owner is not Chinese ...chances are that the place will be referred to as "un Chino." Buenos Aires wouldn´t be the same without them.
Today´s La Nacion has a great article on the phenomenon. It turns out that 80% of the mainland Chinese who operate these urban lifesavers are all from one Chinese province, Fujian. In recent years, they have opened these stores at a rate of 20 per month, although, in recent years the numbers have slowed along with China's economic success. On average, according to La Nacion, there is a Chinese supermarket every four blocks (my own barrio has at least two within 1½ blocks.)
It´s a great read in castellano ...or in English via google.
No comments:
Post a Comment