{"id":78,"date":"2021-03-12T08:22:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-12T16:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chineseareeverywhere.com\/?p=78"},"modified":"2021-03-24T19:45:13","modified_gmt":"2021-03-25T02:45:13","slug":"taishanese-migrants-in-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/farfromchina.com\/2021\/03\/12\/taishanese-migrants-in-mexico\/","title":{"rendered":"Mexicali Chinese’s brush with poverty, dilapidation and a restaurant’s scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n
\"chen<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

Wanrong Chen\/ Liza Chen<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u9648\u5a49\u5bb9<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Born: Taishan, Guangdong, China
Raised: Mexicali, Mexico<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Are there threads of similarity between Chinese people?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The more Chinese migrants I meet, the less I am able to answer that categorically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the one hand, I\u2019m just fresh off an interview with Roberto Cai Wu<\/a>, whose parents were from Taishan, Guangdong, China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Wanrong, photographed while still in China<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Then, I met Chen Wanrong, also from Taishan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some parts of this interview will come with footnotes. That’s because we did this interview in Chinese, and sometimes, translating Chinese to English causes a loss in sentiment. If you want her response at its fullest, read the footnotes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wanrong is from Taishan, Guangdong, China. Her family moved to Mexico when she was seven years old. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Roberto’s article, I asked the question, “If I told you that Mexico could offer a better quality of life than China in 1991, would you believe it?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chatting with Wanrong really elucidated that even around 2002, Mexico could offer a better quality of life than China could have. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And this is where I had a bit of a “let them eat cake” moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why move to Mexico and not the U.S.?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The privileged dude that I am, I don’t get it. Look, I got lucky and had ancestors who migrated to a country who would eventually become quite wealthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I asked Wanrong why her family moved to Mexico instead of heading straight to the usual suspects like the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her response really put me in a faux pas<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It’s simple and realistic. We had no money, so naturally we had few choices. In fact, Mexico was the only choice available,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wanrong said her family didn’t have the funds for her migration, so they borrowed it. The terms of the loan stated that her father needed to work at her relative’s restaurant until the loan has been repaid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Migration is brutal, and only first-generation migrants can fully understand it. At that time, Mexico had a better economy than right now, and although it might not be as good as other developed countries, it certainly was a little better than in China,” she continued.1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finances aside, it turns out that the other reason why her family wanted to migrate was so that their family could stay together. Her father worked in construction in China and had to work away from home very often, and work opportunities were few and far in between, in addition to low pay.2<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Chinese
Wanrong as a child, just after arriving in Mexico.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“Dreadful” living conditions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

But before that could even happen, Wanrong and her mother had to endure one year of separation from her father, who moved to Mexico first before her and her mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In that one year, her father worked at her relative’s restaurant. Therefore, as a dea, those relatives helped him with the immigration process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n