Chinese people in Argentina
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Chinese Argentines are Argentine citizens of Chinese ancestry or Chinese-born immigrants. The Chinese Argentine community is one of the fastest-growing communities in Argentina. As of 2018, the community was made up of 200,000 people.


History

Since the 20th century, the Chinese in Argentina came in three waves. The first wave of immigrants came from small coastal towns between 1914–1949. The second wave of immigrants arrived from
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
in the 1980s and over the years, they have become accustomed to the porteño lifestyle. A considerable number of people from
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
and the southern coastal region of China immigrated during the second wave. The third wave came in the 1990s, hailing mostly from China, mostly from the less developed province of
Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...
. This group is filled with young drifters who came often through the illegal smuggling route originating in China's
Fujian Province Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its cap ...
.Danwei: Chinese media, advertising, and urban life. - Chinese in Argentina - The Chinese Diaspora in Latin America by Nancy Liu
/ref> However, many of the small supermarkets that are present in many neighbourhoods of
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
come from the community present during the third wave of immigration. Recently, there has been a fourth and newer wave of Chinese immigration who are mostly ambitious and educated members of China’s growing middle-class who are looking to find their place in China’s growing economy. Young employees of Chinese companies have recently arrived to work for at least two years. Today, many Chinese Argentines usually run ''supermercados chinos'' (Chinese supermarkets), which dominate the second tier of grocery stores in Buenos Aires. ''Tintorerías'' (Dry Cleaners) for laundry are also a common Chinese-run business.


Discrimination

Since the Argentine economic crisis, many small Chinese-owned businesses have faced significant crime. Robberies are frequent, with one Chinese supermarket reportedly robbed up to 14 times in one year, and stories of family members shot at gunpoint in their store are not uncommon. Tensions have arisen with other immigrant groups as well. In June 2006, the union of truck drivers began a boycott of Chinese-owned stores. This was due to an alleged gun-related incident between a driver and a store owner, which involved illegal firearms. Shortages in stores were reported due to a lack of deliveries until the boycott was officially lifted the following month.


Buenos Aires' Chinatown

Buenos Aires' Chinatown is a largely commercial section five blocks long and two blocks wide in the
barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city, usually delimited by functional (e.g. residenti ...
of
Belgrano, Buenos Aires Belgrano is a northern and leafy '' barrio'' or neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Location The barrio of Palermo is to the southeast; Núñez is to the northwest; Coghlan, Villa Urquiza, Villa Ortúzar and Colegiales are to the sout ...
. This neighborhood contains several Chinese restaurants, grocery stores, and a
Buddhist temple A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in Buddhism represen ...
. It is the heart of the
Chinese community The Chinese people or simply Chinese, are people or ethnic groups identified with China, usually through ethnicity, nationality, citizenship, or other affiliation. Chinese people are known as Zhongguoren () or as Huaren () by speakers of s ...
in Argentina. The neighborhood began to develop in the 1980s when newly arrived
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
ese and
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
immigrants settled in this area. The neighborhood is also known for its
Chinese New Year Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar and solar Chinese calendar. In Sinophone, Chinese and other East Asian cultures, the festival is commonly r ...
celebrations.


Religion

Tzong Kuan Temple was founded in 1988 by Master Pu Hsien with the support of Buddhist community in
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
, the temple is located in the Belgrano area on Montañeses 2175 Street and has a congregation of five hundred members. The current abbot is Master Zhi Han and the temple is also affiliated to Chinese Buddhist Association in Argentina and Bodhiyana Foundation. Fo Guang Shan Order from Taiwan also has a branch temple, "Templo Budista Fo Guang Shan" in Argentina since 1992, and the temple offered courses in meditation, martial arts, yoga and hosts vegetarian cooking workshops on regular basis.


Notable Chinese-Argentines

* Liu Song,
table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...
player. Pan American Gold Medalist. *
Ignacio Huang Ignacio Huang (, born January 1, 1980), is a Taiwanese actor and graphic designer based in Argentina. He is best known internationally for his role of Jun in the 2011 film '' Chinese Take-Away''. Huang also appeared in ''Filmatrón'' in 2007 and ...
, film actor. *Fernando Juan Yuan Ping, businessman, entrepreneur, politician.


See also

*
Argentina–China relations Foreign relations between the Argentine Republic and People's Republic of China has existed for decades. Both countries established diplomatic relations in 1945 as the Republic of China and again on March 19, 1972, with the PRC. Both nations are ...
* Asian Argentines *
Overseas Chinese Overseas Chinese () refers to people of Chinese birth or ethnicity who reside outside Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese. Terminology () or ''Hoan-kheh'' () in Hokkien, refe ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chinese Argentine Asian Argentine Ethnic groups in Argentina
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
Chinese diaspora in South America Chinese Latin American