So Many Chinese in Belize!

I feel that this topic deserves a separate blog entry for a couple of reasons: 1. Many Chinese (and many other nationals) don't even know where Belize is on the map. 2. I know Chinese immigrants are every where, but I didn't expect to see SO MANY Chinese in a country like Belize. Historically, China and Belize had very little connections. Unlike the official relationships that China had sought after during the 50s and 60s with Africa, there seems to be a void in the official China-Belize relationship.

On a short trip of merely 4.5 days in Belize, everywhere we went, we saw Chinese. I was absolutely surprised and intrigued by this phenomenon. We made a point of talking to the Chinese we met in trying to find out how and why they ended up there.


When we drove through Corozal on our way to San Pedro, I was surprised to see many Chinese signs of restaurants and general stores in both English and Chinese in a small city like Corozal. Once we arrived in San Pedro, my surprise was taken to a different level - Why here?!

On our first day in San Pedro, we strolled around in the evening and saw a Chinese restaurant (see pic), and ventured upstairs to strike up a conversation with the restaurant owners, a couple from Guangdong. They told us that there are 81 Chinese on this tiny island alone and there is a girl from Xinjiang!


We continued our walk; soon, we ran into three Chinese, two adults with a young girl. M and I opened up the conversation with "ni hao!" After finding out the young lady is also from Xinjiang, the conversation took an interesting turn - we both wanted to find out more about each other. She made some very interesting comparisons and comments about San Pedro and Wulumuqi where she is originally from:

"This place is so shabby; it doesn't even have paved roads. It doesn't have high rise buildings. Wulumuqi is so much more advanced than this place!"
"When I first came here, I wanted to leave immediately. But, since my brother and sister-in-law are here, I feel that I have to be near them. Now I'm getting used to it. But I still miss Wulumuqi; after all, that's a big city - you know that - you lived in Shanghai!"
"Before I came here, I thought this place woud be like Paris or New York with big fancy buildings! Look at this place, it has nothing - just a bunch of country bumpkins! I look down on them - they eat with their feet up on the table and have no manners at all!"
"I followed my older brother here. He didn't know that Belize was so backward. He has many friends who emigrated to Autralia; he actually meant to get a visa to go to Australia; instead, the visa agency in China took the processing fees and gave him a visa to come to Belize - a place that we had never heard of before!
"Most of the Chinese here are not very well educated. I went to college. I want to find someone who is well-educated. Let me know if you know somebody from the States."

Then, the next day when we were out walking again in the evening, right next to Rebacca's Clinic (the Xinjiang girl's massage and acupuncture business), we ran into a Taiwanese woman who was a shop assistant at a gift store. She only works on the island shop every other week. She is in Belize with her 17 year old son who is going to high school there. For her, it's all about giving her son's the best high school education to the best of their ability. Her husband owns a business in Taiwan and pays their son's education. The son did his middle school in New Zealand. Right now, she started working recently to kill time since her son spends most of his time in school now and he is old enough to take care of himself. She is thinking about sending her son to a college in the States, if possible. When they have time, they travel to neighboring countries like Mexico and Guatemala to expose her son to the world. It sounds like her son has seen a lot for a 17-year-old.

After chatting with the Taiwanese lady, we then chatted with the sister-in-law of the Xinjiang girl for a long time. She holds a different view from the more fashionable Xinjiang girl whom we talked with the day before. She has two kids, one of whom was born in Belize - something that they couldn't have done in China. She enjoys coming to the island - fresh air, beautiful scenery and peaceful. She and her husband run a similar clinic in Belize city. She also shared with us a couple of horrible crimes in Belize city. One of which is rather gruesome: a Chinese shop owner with a baby in his arm got shot in his own store, and his store got robbed; later on, he became a vegetable and had to be shipped back to China. Chinese and Indians own and run a lot of restaurants, general stores and other businesses. They often become targets of robbery and crimes.

Caye Caulker, a teeny-weeny island where I really didn't expect to see many island residents, not to mention, Chinese! Yet, there they are. Our first stop was a small general store owned by a Chinese guy who also rents out bicycles. We rented our bikes from him. Then, off we rode around. We saw a couple of Chinese restaurants. Then, at the end of the pier while waiting for our water taxi, we saw a Chinese guy sitting on the edge of the pier fishing! I chatted with him a little bit. He is here all by himself leaving his wife and a kid behind in China. He said he wanted to make and save enough money, then he would go back to China to reunite with his family - no plans of staying permanently according to him.

When we arrived in Belize city, from the car we were in, we could see Chinese-looking people on bikes, in shops or walking on the streets, it astonishes me to see so many Chinese immigrants among a city with predominantly black and mestizo population. After a while, my surprise over this really should get old; but it still strikes me as something rather peculiar. Why Belize? I didn't see as many Chinese in Mexico! I was told that the Chinese now accounts for 5% of the Belize population!

The puzzle becomes a bit clearer after we arrived in Corozal. I basically forced a conversation on a Chinese guy who was watching Hong Kong TV series on Satellite TV in the restaurant where we picked up our dinner. He was planning a trip back to China after having worked for a Chinese factory here for seven years. He complained about the long journey that he was about to make: Corozal >> Cancun, Mexico >> Amsterdam >> Beijing >> Tianjin. He wasn't particularly interested in answering my questions. But when he did answer, his answers were revealing.

To sum up, it seems that there are a few things unique to Belize that really attract Chinese immigrants:
1. Easier for Chinese to get a visa to come to Belize.
2. English is the first official language, which many Chinese have learned in school.
3. Belize is still considered a member of the British Commonwealth - their currency still has the Queen's head shot. Travelling to the UK can be made easier in the future.
4. Acquiring Belize citizenship is relatively easier compared to other countries such as the U.S. and Canada.
5. The next generation's education is the parents' top priority. Their kids can be better prepared to become global citizens with education in multiple languages.
6. Business opportunities abound (and maybe the higher artificially fixed exchange rate to US dollars helps too: 1 US$ = 2 BZ$ vs. 1 US$ = 8 RMB).