Job Discussion Forums

[Drizzt]

Hello everyone in the Mexico forum.

I've been teaching in China for the last year and a half, but now I'm coming to Mexico. It makes sense, because my undergraduate degree was Spanish and I'm happy to have landed a job in a Spanish-speaking country.

The past year and a half, however, I've been working on improving my Mandarin, so I'm curious if any areas/cities of Mexico have a sizable Chinese community? It would be nice to be able to continue to practice my Chinese. Here in China I have not met ONE SINGLE PERSON from Latin America (and the past year I've been in Shanghai, a city with 14 million people) so I'm not too optimistic about the reverse situation. I figure its a long shot, but you never know!

I'm going to be living in the state of Oaxaca, but I'm interested in knowing about Chinese communities in Mexico in general (if there is any!)

[MELEE]

In Mexico City there is a Chinese community, including a block and a half long China town!

In Oaxaca, if you are coming to Huajuapan, I think that's you, we have a Chinese professor here in the design department! Otherwise, you'll have to go to Mexico City...

[reddevil79]

There is also a community in Guadalajara, though not as big as in Mexico City...

[Guy Courchesne]

I hear that the biggest Chinese community in Mexico is to be found in Baja California somewhere?

[Drizzt]

Thanks for all the feedback guys.

Yes, Melee, that's me. I guess I'll be seeing you soon then!

[thelmadatter]

I also heard that the largest Chinese population (though still a bit mixed ethnically) is in Baja Norte as well. Kinda makes sense, if you know a little bit of history. The Chinese came to Mexico the same time and for the same reason that the first big wave of Chinese immigration came to the US... to build the railroads. However, after the railroad building was done They were nostly expelled from Mexico City and a number of other places, managing to hang on in larger numbers in Baja (maybe because it is quite far from DF).
http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Race_Ethnicity/faculty_staff/hu-dehart/research/
http://www.answers.com/topic/chinatowns-in-latin-america

The second source is interesting because it claims that in Guangdong Province there several Spanish-speaking Mexican-Chinese enclaves due to the expulsion of Chinese by Mexico. THAT would be very interesting to see!

While certainly the US and Canada had similar efforts, given the relative numbers, one can conclude that the Mexicans have simply done a better job at keeping foreigners out of the country. Still do. Heard last night on the news that although foreign-born legal residents make up only .5% of the Mexican population, they are barred from many political and civil service positions in the federal government. One must be 3rd generation Mexican (like Fox) to be president. (the US constitution says only one must be native-born, so a native-born child of an illegal immigrant can be president). The Mexican government has even gone so far as to pressure state and local authorities to pass laws restricting local civic positions, including that of fireman etc. to only native-born residents/citizens. That is until the AP started asking questions about the policy. THAT sure wouldnt look good with Mexico pressuring the US for "rights" of Mexican illegal immigrants!

[Guy Courchesne]

Given Mexico's history of having been invaded and occupied several times, I think I can understand the desire to keep foreigners out of power positions here, though modern Mexico could use an update to the laws.

[thelmadatter]

I have to disagree... there is a relation. Mexico is demanding that the US open its borders and jobs to its citizens who are there illegally. However, at the same time it has far more severe restrictions on immigration and on those who immigrate there.... and it wants to impose more restrictions....

How can you demand priveledges when you are no where near willing to provide something parallel?

[Samantha]

Back to Chinese in Mexico I found this quote below in a Wikipedia link about Mexicali. I was a bit surprised I didn't know this since I have a sister-in-law living there. It is extremely hot there; I did know that, since she comes home to Mazatlan for "cooler" weather. We also had/have a sizeable Chinese influence in Mazatlan, hence our main market opens at the crack of dawn. We have local names like "Juan Chong" etc.

"Mexicali has also the largest Chinatown, called La Chinesca, and the largest number of overseas Chinese in Mexico. Today, many people in Mexicali have some chinese ancestry in their blood. Because of this, the city has one of the finest chinese food cuisines of the continent, rivaling cities such as San Francisco, California, where there's also a big chinese population among their citizens. These Restaurants can be found all over the city, not just in Chinatown, but also in the main boulevards, such as Justo Sierra and Lazaro Cardenas Blvds. One can also explore the Chinese Pagoda in Plaza de la Amistad, along the border crossing, as well as the modern Civic Center, which is the administrative heart of the municipality."

[Drizzt]

Very interesting stuff...

Themadatter, I wasn't aware of the Spanish-speaking Mexican-Chinese enclaves in Guangdong province, but it certainly makes sense. Most Chinese immigrants living on the west coast of the US speak Cantonese, not Mandarin. Why? I've been told most of them come from Guangdong. Here in China I've asked several of my Chinese friends why people from the Guangdong province seem to be more migratory, but the only answer I get is that it's just the way they are! I am curious to find out if there is more to it than that.