Xin Nian Kuai Le!

Sunday 18 February 2007

Xian Nian Kuai Le, everybody, Happy New Year! Today is Chinese New Year, ringing in the year of the Pig, so Ryan and I headed down to the very very small Chinatown in Belgrano. We were not disappointed! The Association of Taiwanese in Argentina were putting on a big hullabaloo, and people had turned out in droves. There were dragon and lion dances circling the block, lines outside every restaurant, and egg rolls and squid balls frying on the streets.

Actually, I was really very surprised by how crowded it was (you could hardly walk down the sidewalk, the streets were thronging with people) considering most Argentine's view of the Chinese population here. We have heard, from students, the belief that Chinese-run grocery stores are very dirty, and lots of people here are afraid that the Asians are "taking over." (But then again, so are the Bolivians and Peruvians and all general dark-skinned scary people.) How wide-spread this fear is, we're not sure, but we've definitely encountered a lot of racism. One common complaint is that Argentina is becoming "too South American," as opposed to the lovely pure European it should be.

But perhaps the crowd there today was proof that I've simply talked to the wrong people, and these stereotypes are not too common. Or at the least, a huge celebration like this will be a step in the right direction!