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Chinese came to Peru, Mexico and the Caribbean after the legal end of slavery

Chinese Latin Americans arrived in Peru, Mexico and the Caribbean after the end of legalized human enslavement. Chinese first built railroads and worked in the fields. They had built the western end of the Transcontinental Railroad in the United States.

Peru has a large Chinese diaspora. Puerto Rican Jíbaro have Chinese mixed in. The Chinese-Spanish restaurants of old New York were actually Chinese-Cuban restaurants.

Tight families, a strong work ethic, and a belief in education enabled Chinese to rise in status. The diaspora has continued to grow in contemporary times.

Chinese NYC

Chinese NYC Festivals

Chinese New Year and the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival are New York City’s big Chinese festivals.

Chinese New York City

There are Chinatowns in Lower Manhattan and Flushing, Queens.

Chinese New Yorkers

Margaret Chin, the New York City Council member of District #1 is Chinese-American.

Chinese People

Sun Tzu (ca 500 BC), the ancient Chinese military strategist, is having a huge impact on the modern world. His book The Art of War is required reading for all modern militaries.

One of Sun Tzu’s concepts is that it is easier to defeat an enemy by sowing confusion than by fighting them directly. This is the why our elections are being manipulated and why social media is being used to make us fight amongst ourselves. Make no mistake, it is one of the least expensive, and most successful military campaigns in history.

We are just dumb enough to fall for this very ancient strategy. “United we stand, divided we fall.” When the people are divided, the greatest military in the world is powerless, a waste of resources. While we tear each other apart, others are building the future.

Chinese Culture

Silk and then porcelain first brought Europe and China together. Romans loved the rich, smooth texture of silk. The “Silk Road” was the old trade route from Venice, Italy to China.

Oranges are originally from China. Moors introduced them to Andalucía, Spain. One of the Spanish-language names for the fruit is “mandarinas.” A mandarin is an old word for a Chinese government official. Spanish conquistadors planted the first orange trees in Florida to protect their sailors from scurvy. Today, Brazil and Mexico are major orange growers.

Chinese have great respect for elders, are patient, and think in very long time frames – even longer than human lives.

China

The island of Macao was a Portuguese trading port. It was returned to China in 1999.

Xièxiè

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PS: This is a learning project. We have made some mistakes, but with your help, we get better every year. Also we use the pronoun "we" no matter who we are writing about. Creating a "them" is the first step in dehumanization. In our world, there is no "them," there is only "us." Thank you for joining us.