China: Coming to a place near you

If any of you feel far removed from that foreign land you see printed on the back of all of your products, I’m here to tell you that you shouldn’t. The Chinese population living outside of China itself is at least 40 million. And that’s not just in Asia, but 17% of Vancouver, 9% of Toronto, and 7% of Sydney is Chinese. Of if you want to talk economics, I can mention the dependence created by the Chinese running a $262 billion USD surplus (2007) or the $1.9 Trillion USD worth of Foreign Reserves (money other countries are borrowing from China). So whether we like the products or not, the influence they have in the world today is enormous.

Within the month I’ve had the chance to visit Chinatown Chicago, Philadelphia, Toronto and New York. New York was by far the biggest, with upwards of 700,000 Chinese living in Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn, combined. Now the home to those who have migrated, largely from Guangdong and Fujian provinces, they are the best place to buy cheap (sometimes you might wonder too cheap) stuff and the core parts of Chinese culture plopped right down there in lower Manhattan. (See video below)





Interestingly enough, like many words that we translate differently in English than Chinese, the word “Chinatown” in Chinese is 唐人街（“Tong Rin Geeya”). This literally “a market of the Tang Dynasty” (618 to 907 AD), considered the Golden Age of China. The highpoint of culture, largest landmass yet to be conquered (slightly smaller than present day China), movable block printing was discovered (1000 years before Gutenberg’s printing press) and during the lifetime of the famous philosopher, Confucius. Though not totally clear to me, my gut tells me the name is such as to promote the highpoint of Chinese culture around the world.

Speaking of promoting Chinese culture around the world. Are you interested in learning more about Chinese history, culture, cooking, or even taking the dive into some Chinese language classes? It just so happens there is a foundation called Confucian Institutes which have been created for those very purposes. Funded by the Chinese government, these institutes are now worldwide. The only one I have visited so far was in my hometown of West Lafayette, home of Purdue University and almost 1000 Chinese students! Classes were only offered a couple times a week, but further involvement in the Institute included a relationship with a local school corporation to teach Chinese in elementary schools.

Its not just Chinatowns and China 1 Buffets anymore, but as businessmen, students, professors, tourism, you name it. I even met a Chinese teenager on a train to Beijing a few months ago whose purpose in going to the US was to join the US Army! (can he even do that?!).

Now for a little test, where its your turn to differentiate between China and Chinatown. Look at the pictures below and try to decide if I took in the US/Canada or in China. Good luck!