China Hope Live » Africa

Chinatown, Africa

Joel — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 20:00:23 +0000

Our first major international experiences were in Africa, and we still have a special interest in its places and peoples. This 24 minute video goes where the kids “think all white people are Chinese” and talks to an interesting cast ensemble: the ultimate Chinese migrant workers who’ve discovered that the real Africa isn’t exactly like the one they were sold in China, an Angolan government official who loves China’s “no strings attached” policy with regard to where the aid money goes, Angolan construction “helpers” who can’t pronounce their Chinese co-workers’ names, and some articulate young Angolans who believe that despite what it looks like, China’s involvement is not really helping their country.

(From The Current via CDT):

How authentically Chinese is a Chinatown in Angola? They have lǎowài singing Hotel California during drunken karaoke sessions.

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Joel — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 18:16:34 +0000

“As he envisions it, there should be a Nigeriatown in China just the way there’s a Chinatown in Nigeria.”

Birth of a Ugandan Chinatown

Joel — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 23:32:26 +0000

English speakers go to China to teach English. Where do Chinese speakers go to teach Chinese? Africa. In their English language blog, some imported Chinese teachers describe the beginnings of a Ugandan Chinatown, their first experiences of ever feeling like true foreigners. They also take a lot of photographs.