December 17, 2024 • 20 mins
This episode explores the story of Lima’s Tusán—Peruvian Chinese—community, examining their influence on Peruvian culture and identity through Chifas, restaurants serving Peruvian-Chinese cuisine. From the history of Chinese immigration to Peru to today’s Barrio Chino (Chinatown), I consider what it means to assimilate, belong, and transform.
Featured Interviewees:● Rodrigo Campos, Founder of Tusanaje● Diana Hu Huang, Mandarin Chinese Teacher● Linda Liu, Master’s Student● Antonio Chang Diplomat and HistorianNon-Featured Interviewees:● Boya Li, PhD. Journalist, Historian● Dennis Chu, Owner of Flor de Mayo Restaurant in NYC● Lok Siu, PhD. Professor of Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley● Sutee Dee, Author of How to Eat in Peru Blog● Tiffany Wang, prev. Researcher at SwarthmoreResearch Referenced:● https://www.pewresearch.org/2024/08/06/chinese-americans-a-survey-data-snapshot/#:~:text=About%204.7%20million%20Chinese%20Americans,born.● https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/11/25/247166284/a-history-of-indentured-labor-gives-coolie-its-sting● https://www.thecleaverquarterly.com/stories/chifa-diaries● https://www.howtoeatinperu.com/p/four-things-that-i-missed-about-peru● https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Peruvians● https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/chinese-peruvian-tusan-immigrants-history● https://www.tusanaje.org/biblioteca/items/show/15● https://panoramas.secure.pitt.edu/health-and-society/chinatown-peru-brief-look-chinese-diaspora-latin-america● https://works.swarthmore.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1599&context=theses● https://www.pbs.org/ancestorsintheamericas/fabiana_1.html● https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00598155/document● https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar%C3%ADa_Luz_incident● https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Peruvians● https://oxfordre.com/latinamericanhistory/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199366439.001.0001/acrefore-9780199366439-e-1023?p=emailAaYgy7EkN7aao&d=/10.1093/acrefore/9780199366439.001.0001/acrefore-9780199366439-e-1023● https://thediplomat.com/2019/03/the-evolution-and-preservation-of-chinese-peruvian-identity/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:05):
I am standing at the busiest street cornerin one of the world's oldest China towns.
Restaurants line the streetswindows filled with egg tarts,
smoked, pecking duck, and signsadvertising dim sum in each alleyway.
Vendors through thick pedestriantraffic above me hangs a red gate,
the symbol of Chinatowns everywhere.
(00:27):
But this isn't San Francisco.
It's not New York.
It's not London.
This is Lima Karu.
Welcome to Barrio Chino.
My name is Jenny Duan, and I'msomewhat of a Chinatown enthusiast.
I first became obsessed with Chinatownsin high school when I created a
(00:51):
documentary video series about theChinatown in Portland, Oregon where I, the
daughter of Chinese immigrants grew up.
Since then, I visited Chinatowns allaround the world chasing the stories
of the broader Chinese diaspora.
Maybe what I love most aboutChinatowns is their familiarity.
How, even though they don't alwayslook like the China eye or even my
(01:15):
parents know, no matter where in theworld I am, they always feel like home.
I came to this Chinatown in Lima, Perubecause it's different from all the rest.
It didn't just preserveChinese food and culture.
It transformed an entire country.
The most important part of the Peruvianidentity is Peruvian cuisine, and the
(01:39):
most important element is Chinese food.
That's Rodrigo founder of Anahi,a cultural organization in Lima,
focused on community building andadvocacy for TEUs, Tucson folks,
Peruvians with Chinese ancestry.
You'll hear more from him later,but for now I want to make
sure you took in what he said.
(01:59):
That the most important elementof Peruvian cuisine and by
extension, Peruvian identityisn't South American, but Chinese.
This is one of the reasonsI wanted to come here.
I wanted to understand how theChinese immigrants who came here
managed to integrate while at thesame time preserving their culture
(02:21):
so seamlessly that Chinese cuisinebecame synonymous with the food that
Peru now proudly claims as its own.
It made me wonder if Barrio Chinoholds lessons for how communities can
not only adapt to, but also enrich newcultures without losing their roots.
Barcino is home to nearly1.5 million people.
(02:43):
A vibrant community that has leftits mark on every corner of the city.
To put this in perspective, around10% of Peru's population has Chinese
ancestry, more than seven times thepercentage of Chinese Americans in
the United States where they makeup about 1.4% of the population.
(03:03):
Perhaps the most deliciouspart of that legacy.
Nearly 6,000 Chifa PeruvianChinese restaurants that have
become a Peruvian staple.
But to understand how we got here.
We need to go back a couple hundred yearsto the year, 1849 thousands of Southern
(03:24):
Chinese men, many of them impoverished,four ships bound for Peru, lured by
exploitative contracts promising notwealth, but simply hope for a better life.
They're contract laborers brought overto work in plantations and railroads
meant to replace slaves after theabolishment of slavery in Peru.
(03:46):
At this time in China, the tyingrebellion, the bloodiest civil war in
the history of China was devastating thecountry leaving behind 20 to 30 million
dead and displacing countless others.
Economic instability, widespreadfamine and political turmoil forced
many to seek opportunities abroad.
No matter how uncertain ordangerous the prospects, this is
(04:12):
not a glamorous nor easy life.
One of Peru's major exports atthe time was guano, A valuable
fertilizer made up of well birdpoop abundant on the coasts of Peru.
Chinese immigrants were tasked to sscrape and collect the feces from rocks.
It's no surprise that in the 1850s,Chinese immigrants made up the lower
(04:35):
class in Peru referred to as Coolies.
A derogatory term that came from theBritish bureaucracy that facilitated the
exploitative labor trade at the time.
Between 1849 and 1874, 100,000Chinese immigrant comes to
Peru like a Chinese police.
(04:56):
That's Antonio Chang, aTucson historian and diplomat.
I'm meeting him at a cafe in Barrancooutside the Pacha Kama Bruins.
An archeological site in the centerof Lima, he tells me that some of
Peru's first Cooley workers areburied in this site with unmarked
graves, which gives you a sense ofjust how low their social status was.
(05:20):
They were in three main areas.
The first one and the mostimportant was in the crop.
The condition of war washorrible, completely horrible.
Some of them were domestic workers, andsome of them work also in the construction
of the Royal World system in Peru.
Well, why Peru?
(05:40):
This South American country became akey destination because it desperately
needed labor and recruitment.
Networks from Southern China madethe journey easier, even if the
conditions were to put it lightly harsh.
The Cooley trade run by Britishand Peruvian intermediaries.
Made Peru accessible and with fewerimmigration restrictions than other
(06:02):
countries, it became a more practicalchoice for many Chinese workers.
But this wave of migrationdidn't just bring workers.
It also brought internationalattention to how badly they
were being mistreated in 1872.
The Maria Lu sat docked in Yokohama'sbustling harbor, but inside the
(06:24):
ship it was anything but lively.
The air below deck was thick and stifling,wreaking of sweats, sea water, and thick.
231 Chinese laborers were crammedinto the dark, filthy hold.
The sound of coughing and groaning,echoed through the space, competing
(06:45):
with the creek of the woodenhole and splash of waves outside.
Meals if they came were scrapsfairly fit for survival.
Beatings were common, and escapesseemed impossible until one
desperate man took a chance.
Jumping overboard, he swamto a nearby British warship.
When turned over to the Japaneseauthorities, he told them his
(07:08):
story and they came to investigate.
What they found horrified them.
The workers have been lured with promisesof opportunity only to be forced into
contracts and treated like cargo.
Their humanity stripped away.
Japan refused to let the ship leave andsoon news of the appalling conditions
spread this event along with otherspressured governments like Japan, Britain,
(07:34):
and China to scrutinize the Cooleytrade, leading to diplomatic talks.
The Ching Empire demanded better treatmentfor its citizens, culminating in the
1874 Treaty of Friendship, commerce andNavigation with Peru, which aimed to
improve conditions for Chinese workers.
The first treaty of the Chinese Empireand Latin American country was signed
(07:56):
in 1874, so at that time began thediplomatic relation between the Chinese
Empire and the Peruvian government.
With this treaty relations betweenChina and Peru started to shift,
Peru agreed to better treatment forChinese immigrants, and this opened
the door for a new wave of migration.
(08:18):
This time, it wasn't just laborers,it was merchants and entrepreneurs
looking to escape the instabilityin China and built something of
their own in Peru, bar Peruvian.
Chinatown was new to the central market.
Because all of the, the Chinese whosave money working as a colleague
(08:38):
want to run his own business, so theydecide, well, where is the mer baby?
This corner will be goodfor put my own store.
The formation of Barrio Chinomarked a turning point for
the Chinese community in Peru.
Over decades, the earliest Chineseimmigrants transitioned from
indentured laborers to entrepreneurs.
They worked tirelessly, savingwhat little they could to open
(09:01):
businesses, especially restaurants.
The Barcino Begans in 1850s.
In the 1920s, the tradition was the chifabegan in Peru, the Chifa come from the
country style of Chinese gastronomy.
This word chifa is one you'll hear a lotin Lima, and it means more than one thing.
(09:21):
The word chifa has two, meaningchifa, the name of the restaurant,
also the style of the food.
So in Spanish you can say, we wantto go to the chifa to eat chifa.
Antonio told me that the word chifacomes from the Cantonese phrase, Sik.
Faan meaning to eat.
And this isn't the only wordborrowed from Cantonese.
(09:42):
They don't say Chinese food.
They say chifa.
They don't say fried rice.
They say.
They don't say soy sauce.
They say Si, you know, comingall from Cantonese Orca.
That's Rodrigo Campos again, who youheard from the beginning of this story.
(10:02):
He was one of the first people Iconnected with in preparation for this
trip, and one of the most influentialleaders for Lima's Toan community
as he describes the Ethnolinguisticevolution of Peru is heavily
influenced by the Chinese language.
Contributing to even the word toan itself.
Most of those Chinese have a familyin Peru and another in China, and
(10:25):
when they talk, they say, yeah, myChinese family and my Toan family.
And that's how they started toname the local Chinese like Toan.
And then same with the otherwords, became part of the Spanish
and being transformed into.
What set this cultural exchange intomotion, it wasn't just the number of
(10:49):
Chinese immigrants by starting essentialbusinesses and staying out of trouble.
They became known as hardworkers and good neighbors.
Intermarriage with Peruvians also shapedfamilies bridging the two cultures.
Over time, chifa evolved asChinese immigrants adapted their
traditional recipes to incorporatelocal Peruvian ingredients.
(11:11):
Like Ahi, Amarillo Yellow ChiliPepper, and Peruvian grown vegetables.
Today, chifa has evolved from itsoriginal roots to expand into 11
distinct categories, including thetraditional Chifa, Peruvian food cooked
with Cantonese style, true ChinesePeruvian fusion, Cantonese fast food,
(11:31):
and even traditional Chinese restaurants.
During my first visit, I wassurprised to find dim Sum and
even CI Chinese restaurants.
The region of China, my familyis from in Peru, you can find,
uh, Shifa in every street.
They sell not only Chifa, that isthe Rubian and Chinese mixed food.
(11:53):
They also sell like more traditionaldishes that they, similar to the
Chinese heritage, like they not make.
Shane in the foot, and alsoyou can go there and ask for
a menu that it's from Chinese.
There are like two menus and alsothey have like different areas.
Like the first floor is like Chifa,the second floor is Chinese foot.
(12:18):
Linda Li is an internationalbusiness and marketing master's
student, fourth generation Chinese,Peruvian, and Antonio's fiance
while Chief of Food has become acelebrated part of Peruvian culture.
And a source of pridefor the Tucson community.
It wasn't always that way.
Early Chinese immigrants often faceddiscrimination and had to navigate
(12:40):
the challenges of rebranding theiridentity, not just as restaurateur,
but as respected professionals inPeruvian society in the sixties, in
Lima, they open the association to sun.
That actually was a big partof them were third generation.
They did this very Asian thing thatthey decided to face and struggle their
(13:03):
racism, but not by being conscious.
They decided to face it by being agood immigrant, a good professional to.
Have to accept me as your neighborbecause I'm a good dentist.
He's a good engineerand she's a good doctor.
And we are your classmatesat the best universities.
(13:25):
We are professors at the universities.
We are people with prestigious.
We are not anymore.
The owners of restaurants, not only thisgeneration was the way to say I'm better.
I'm not a dirty cook in the kitchen.
The idea of modifying one'spresentation is not new, and
(13:46):
neither is the model minority myth.
In the United States, AsianAmericans are often presented as one
dimensional, hardworking, and obedient.
This identity developed in anattempt to shield our communities
against discrimination and racism,yet it flattens individual identity.
I was surprised to hearthese narratives in Peru too.
(14:08):
There are a lot of stereotype, but Iam going to talk about one of them.
The Chinese people have a lot of money.
Are so smart.
So Italy good at math.
Yes.
It a fifth.
So the narrative around the Chinese inPeru has gone from the lowest laborers to
stereotypically wealthy and successful.
(14:30):
Wow.
I just wanna process that for a moment.
And a large part of that is becauseof how they transform their culture,
especially through chifa intosomething integral to peruse identity.
But it comes at a cost.
I met Diana, who a Chinese Peruvianeducator and translator on a
warm afternoon in Lima, sittingacross from her in my Airbnb room.
(14:55):
We bonded over the shared experiencesof balancing two cultures for
me growing up as a daughter ofChinese immigrants in the us.
I always felt this invisiblepressure to represent my community
perfectly, to succeed, to fit.
In Hearing Diana's story, I realizedhow universal these feelings are.
Even across continents, maybewhen I was a little, I was like
(15:19):
feeling very ashamed of my roots.
I don't want to be like, oh, that Chinesegirl, that different girl, but I'm
really happy to be now Chinese, Peruvian.
They maybe ask me, do you eat dogs?
Or maybe they ask me,why are you saying that?
(15:39):
Or Why are you so loud?
And I told them, well, youspeak Spanish in China.
Maybe you're louder.
If you eat the Guinea pig, that'sa pet in another countries.
It's maybe we are different culturesin countries and you should respect.
(16:01):
Diana doesn't shy away from beingdifferent or even uncomfortable.
Instead, she leans in.
Using these moments asopportunities to teach others.
If I can talk with my 15 yearAnna, I will say that you should be
happy who you are for your parents.
You don't have to be ashamedof what you have learned.
(16:23):
I will say that you have to be very proud.
You should learn Chinese.
More Chinese and you should betrying to learn how to make dumplings
and learn about the culture.
The culture is not only food andlanguage, it's more about the traditions.
The moment with your family, with thepeople to understand why they think.
(16:47):
I don't think that I'm very Peruvianand I don't think I'm very Chinese.
Um, I'm.
And I'm very happy that I can likefind this word that I can fit on it.
And if you feel like you're different,well it's very cool to be different.
Why you wanna be normal.
(17:09):
In Lima today, Chinese influence isfelt far beyond the chief as alone.
But the stereotype lingers.
Some people think that we have a,she or my family have a, she, even
the director of the call say, ah,you have a shepa in that street.
No.
And I say, no, I don't.
We don't have a shefa fromthe supermarket chain.
Wong started by Tucson foundersto the many Chinese parks
(17:31):
scattered throughout the city.
Traces of Chinese heritage areeverywhere, and yet Chinese communities
in Peru still don't receive thefull recognition they deserve.
There isn't even a dedicated museumto honor their contributions.
Organizations like ANA areworking to change that.
They're documenting the legacy ofTucson culture and advocating for its
(17:55):
preservation, particularly as Limacontinues to evolve today, there are
even two China towns, one in the originallocation near the central market, and
another in Sanha reflecting the wavesof immigration and the changing identity
of Lima's Chinese Peruvian community.
The Chinatown of Lima is Lima.
(18:16):
You just stand at the corner andyou gonna just take a look of all
the Asian elements of any block.
For Diana, preservingthis legacy is personal.
I want to someday make abook of recipes from my dad.
I hope that I can have that bookin Chinese and in Spanish as
(18:39):
my time in Lima came to an end.
What struck me most about theChinese Peruvian story is how
it challenges simple narratives.
It's not just a tale ofassimilation or survival.
I thought about my own family, my parentswho moved to the US with no roadmap, only
the hope of building something better.
I.
Their experience isn't the same asthose I encountered in Peru, but
(19:03):
I found it in the small things.
In every Chinatown, there's a story.
Actually, there aremillions of stories in Lima.
I found one that changedthe way I see my own barrio.
Chino and the places newer Chineseimmigrants are settling today are
places where blending traditionstrengthens rather than dilutes identity.
(19:24):
From Lomo, Aldo to Sopa Ton from the firstChinese migrants to the business owners,
community leaders in Tucson of today.
Lima has changed because of ChinesePeruvian influence, and as for me, well,
I'm still chasing Chinatowns, but maybenext time I'll bring a bigger appetite.
Thank you for joining me on thisjourney through Barrio Chino.
(19:47):
Until next time, IanAios and see you soon.
This podcast was produced by JennyDuan through the generosity of
the Braden Storytelling Grant.
It would not have been possiblewithout the incredible support
of Laura Joyce Davis, MelissaDurall, Dawn Fraser, and the entire
(20:10):
Stanford Storytelling Project team.
A heartfelt thank.
You to Rodrigo Compost, AntonioChang, Linda Liu, and Diana who for
sharing their incredible storiesas well as to the many others I
had the privilege of speaking with.
Throughout this process, music isprovided by Blue Dot Sessions with audio
effects from Pixa Bay and Upbeat, andthank you for listening to this story.
(20:33):
Stay curious.
I am standing at the busiest street cornerin one of the world's oldest China towns.
Restaurants line the streetswindows filled with egg tarts,
smoked, pecking duck, and signsadvertising dim sum in each alleyway.
Vendors through thick pedestriantraffic above me hangs a red gate,
the symbol of Chinatowns everywhere.
(00:27):
But this isn't San Francisco.
It's not New York.
It's not London.
This is Lima Karu.
Welcome to Barrio Chino.
My name is Jenny Duan, and I'msomewhat of a Chinatown enthusiast.
I first became obsessed with Chinatownsin high school when I created a
(00:51):
documentary video series about theChinatown in Portland, Oregon where I, the
daughter of Chinese immigrants grew up.
Since then, I visited Chinatowns allaround the world chasing the stories
of the broader Chinese diaspora.
Maybe what I love most aboutChinatowns is their familiarity.
How, even though they don't alwayslook like the China eye or even my
(01:15):
parents know, no matter where in theworld I am, they always feel like home.
I came to this Chinatown in Lima, Perubecause it's different from all the rest.
It didn't just preserveChinese food and culture.
It transformed an entire country.
The most important part of the Peruvianidentity is Peruvian cuisine, and the
(01:39):
most important element is Chinese food.
That's Rodrigo founder of Anahi,a cultural organization in Lima,
focused on community building andadvocacy for TEUs, Tucson folks,
Peruvians with Chinese ancestry.
You'll hear more from him later,but for now I want to make
sure you took in what he said.
(01:59):
That the most important elementof Peruvian cuisine and by
extension, Peruvian identityisn't South American, but Chinese.
This is one of the reasonsI wanted to come here.
I wanted to understand how theChinese immigrants who came here
managed to integrate while at thesame time preserving their culture
(02:21):
so seamlessly that Chinese cuisinebecame synonymous with the food that
Peru now proudly claims as its own.
It made me wonder if Barrio Chinoholds lessons for how communities can
not only adapt to, but also enrich newcultures without losing their roots.
Barcino is home to nearly1.5 million people.
(02:43):
A vibrant community that has leftits mark on every corner of the city.
To put this in perspective, around10% of Peru's population has Chinese
ancestry, more than seven times thepercentage of Chinese Americans in
the United States where they makeup about 1.4% of the population.
(03:03):
Perhaps the most deliciouspart of that legacy.
Nearly 6,000 Chifa PeruvianChinese restaurants that have
become a Peruvian staple.
But to understand how we got here.
We need to go back a couple hundred yearsto the year, 1849 thousands of Southern
(03:24):
Chinese men, many of them impoverished,four ships bound for Peru, lured by
exploitative contracts promising notwealth, but simply hope for a better life.
They're contract laborers brought overto work in plantations and railroads
meant to replace slaves after theabolishment of slavery in Peru.
(03:46):
At this time in China, the tyingrebellion, the bloodiest civil war in
the history of China was devastating thecountry leaving behind 20 to 30 million
dead and displacing countless others.
Economic instability, widespreadfamine and political turmoil forced
many to seek opportunities abroad.
No matter how uncertain ordangerous the prospects, this is
(04:12):
not a glamorous nor easy life.
One of Peru's major exports atthe time was guano, A valuable
fertilizer made up of well birdpoop abundant on the coasts of Peru.
Chinese immigrants were tasked to sscrape and collect the feces from rocks.
It's no surprise that in the 1850s,Chinese immigrants made up the lower
(04:35):
class in Peru referred to as Coolies.
A derogatory term that came from theBritish bureaucracy that facilitated the
exploitative labor trade at the time.
Between 1849 and 1874, 100,000Chinese immigrant comes to
Peru like a Chinese police.
(04:56):
That's Antonio Chang, aTucson historian and diplomat.
I'm meeting him at a cafe in Barrancooutside the Pacha Kama Bruins.
An archeological site in the centerof Lima, he tells me that some of
Peru's first Cooley workers areburied in this site with unmarked
graves, which gives you a sense ofjust how low their social status was.
(05:20):
They were in three main areas.
The first one and the mostimportant was in the crop.
The condition of war washorrible, completely horrible.
Some of them were domestic workers, andsome of them work also in the construction
of the Royal World system in Peru.
Well, why Peru?
(05:40):
This South American country became akey destination because it desperately
needed labor and recruitment.
Networks from Southern China madethe journey easier, even if the
conditions were to put it lightly harsh.
The Cooley trade run by Britishand Peruvian intermediaries.
Made Peru accessible and with fewerimmigration restrictions than other
(06:02):
countries, it became a more practicalchoice for many Chinese workers.
But this wave of migrationdidn't just bring workers.
It also brought internationalattention to how badly they
were being mistreated in 1872.
The Maria Lu sat docked in Yokohama'sbustling harbor, but inside the
(06:24):
ship it was anything but lively.
The air below deck was thick and stifling,wreaking of sweats, sea water, and thick.
231 Chinese laborers were crammedinto the dark, filthy hold.
The sound of coughing and groaning,echoed through the space, competing
(06:45):
with the creek of the woodenhole and splash of waves outside.
Meals if they came were scrapsfairly fit for survival.
Beatings were common, and escapesseemed impossible until one
desperate man took a chance.
Jumping overboard, he swamto a nearby British warship.
When turned over to the Japaneseauthorities, he told them his
(07:08):
story and they came to investigate.
What they found horrified them.
The workers have been lured with promisesof opportunity only to be forced into
contracts and treated like cargo.
Their humanity stripped away.
Japan refused to let the ship leave andsoon news of the appalling conditions
spread this event along with otherspressured governments like Japan, Britain,
(07:34):
and China to scrutinize the Cooleytrade, leading to diplomatic talks.
The Ching Empire demanded better treatmentfor its citizens, culminating in the
1874 Treaty of Friendship, commerce andNavigation with Peru, which aimed to
improve conditions for Chinese workers.
The first treaty of the Chinese Empireand Latin American country was signed
(07:56):
in 1874, so at that time began thediplomatic relation between the Chinese
Empire and the Peruvian government.
With this treaty relations betweenChina and Peru started to shift,
Peru agreed to better treatment forChinese immigrants, and this opened
the door for a new wave of migration.
(08:18):
This time, it wasn't just laborers,it was merchants and entrepreneurs
looking to escape the instabilityin China and built something of
their own in Peru, bar Peruvian.
Chinatown was new to the central market.
Because all of the, the Chinese whosave money working as a colleague
(08:38):
want to run his own business, so theydecide, well, where is the mer baby?
This corner will be goodfor put my own store.
The formation of Barrio Chinomarked a turning point for
the Chinese community in Peru.
Over decades, the earliest Chineseimmigrants transitioned from
indentured laborers to entrepreneurs.
They worked tirelessly, savingwhat little they could to open
(09:01):
businesses, especially restaurants.
The Barcino Begans in 1850s.
In the 1920s, the tradition was the chifabegan in Peru, the Chifa come from the
country style of Chinese gastronomy.
This word chifa is one you'll hear a lotin Lima, and it means more than one thing.
(09:21):
The word chifa has two, meaningchifa, the name of the restaurant,
also the style of the food.
So in Spanish you can say, we wantto go to the chifa to eat chifa.
Antonio told me that the word chifacomes from the Cantonese phrase, Sik.
Faan meaning to eat.
And this isn't the only wordborrowed from Cantonese.
(09:42):
They don't say Chinese food.
They say chifa.
They don't say fried rice.
They say.
They don't say soy sauce.
They say Si, you know, comingall from Cantonese Orca.
That's Rodrigo Campos again, who youheard from the beginning of this story.
(10:02):
He was one of the first people Iconnected with in preparation for this
trip, and one of the most influentialleaders for Lima's Toan community
as he describes the Ethnolinguisticevolution of Peru is heavily
influenced by the Chinese language.
Contributing to even the word toan itself.
Most of those Chinese have a familyin Peru and another in China, and
(10:25):
when they talk, they say, yeah, myChinese family and my Toan family.
And that's how they started toname the local Chinese like Toan.
And then same with the otherwords, became part of the Spanish
and being transformed into.
What set this cultural exchange intomotion, it wasn't just the number of
(10:49):
Chinese immigrants by starting essentialbusinesses and staying out of trouble.
They became known as hardworkers and good neighbors.
Intermarriage with Peruvians also shapedfamilies bridging the two cultures.
Over time, chifa evolved asChinese immigrants adapted their
traditional recipes to incorporatelocal Peruvian ingredients.
(11:11):
Like Ahi, Amarillo Yellow ChiliPepper, and Peruvian grown vegetables.
Today, chifa has evolved from itsoriginal roots to expand into 11
distinct categories, including thetraditional Chifa, Peruvian food cooked
with Cantonese style, true ChinesePeruvian fusion, Cantonese fast food,
(11:31):
and even traditional Chinese restaurants.
During my first visit, I wassurprised to find dim Sum and
even CI Chinese restaurants.
The region of China, my familyis from in Peru, you can find,
uh, Shifa in every street.
They sell not only Chifa, that isthe Rubian and Chinese mixed food.
(11:53):
They also sell like more traditionaldishes that they, similar to the
Chinese heritage, like they not make.
Shane in the foot, and alsoyou can go there and ask for
a menu that it's from Chinese.
There are like two menus and alsothey have like different areas.
Like the first floor is like Chifa,the second floor is Chinese foot.
(12:18):
Linda Li is an internationalbusiness and marketing master's
student, fourth generation Chinese,Peruvian, and Antonio's fiance
while Chief of Food has become acelebrated part of Peruvian culture.
And a source of pridefor the Tucson community.
It wasn't always that way.
Early Chinese immigrants often faceddiscrimination and had to navigate
(12:40):
the challenges of rebranding theiridentity, not just as restaurateur,
but as respected professionals inPeruvian society in the sixties, in
Lima, they open the association to sun.
That actually was a big partof them were third generation.
They did this very Asian thing thatthey decided to face and struggle their
(13:03):
racism, but not by being conscious.
They decided to face it by being agood immigrant, a good professional to.
Have to accept me as your neighborbecause I'm a good dentist.
He's a good engineerand she's a good doctor.
And we are your classmatesat the best universities.
(13:25):
We are professors at the universities.
We are people with prestigious.
We are not anymore.
The owners of restaurants, not only thisgeneration was the way to say I'm better.
I'm not a dirty cook in the kitchen.
The idea of modifying one'spresentation is not new, and
(13:46):
neither is the model minority myth.
In the United States, AsianAmericans are often presented as one
dimensional, hardworking, and obedient.
This identity developed in anattempt to shield our communities
against discrimination and racism,yet it flattens individual identity.
I was surprised to hearthese narratives in Peru too.
(14:08):
There are a lot of stereotype, but Iam going to talk about one of them.
The Chinese people have a lot of money.
Are so smart.
So Italy good at math.
Yes.
It a fifth.
So the narrative around the Chinese inPeru has gone from the lowest laborers to
stereotypically wealthy and successful.
(14:30):
Wow.
I just wanna process that for a moment.
And a large part of that is becauseof how they transform their culture,
especially through chifa intosomething integral to peruse identity.
But it comes at a cost.
I met Diana, who a Chinese Peruvianeducator and translator on a
warm afternoon in Lima, sittingacross from her in my Airbnb room.
(14:55):
We bonded over the shared experiencesof balancing two cultures for
me growing up as a daughter ofChinese immigrants in the us.
I always felt this invisiblepressure to represent my community
perfectly, to succeed, to fit.
In Hearing Diana's story, I realizedhow universal these feelings are.
Even across continents, maybewhen I was a little, I was like
(15:19):
feeling very ashamed of my roots.
I don't want to be like, oh, that Chinesegirl, that different girl, but I'm
really happy to be now Chinese, Peruvian.
They maybe ask me, do you eat dogs?
Or maybe they ask me,why are you saying that?
(15:39):
Or Why are you so loud?
And I told them, well, youspeak Spanish in China.
Maybe you're louder.
If you eat the Guinea pig, that'sa pet in another countries.
It's maybe we are different culturesin countries and you should respect.
(16:01):
Diana doesn't shy away from beingdifferent or even uncomfortable.
Instead, she leans in.
Using these moments asopportunities to teach others.
If I can talk with my 15 yearAnna, I will say that you should be
happy who you are for your parents.
You don't have to be ashamedof what you have learned.
(16:23):
I will say that you have to be very proud.
You should learn Chinese.
More Chinese and you should betrying to learn how to make dumplings
and learn about the culture.
The culture is not only food andlanguage, it's more about the traditions.
The moment with your family, with thepeople to understand why they think.
(16:47):
I don't think that I'm very Peruvianand I don't think I'm very Chinese.
Um, I'm.
And I'm very happy that I can likefind this word that I can fit on it.
And if you feel like you're different,well it's very cool to be different.
Why you wanna be normal.
(17:09):
In Lima today, Chinese influence isfelt far beyond the chief as alone.
But the stereotype lingers.
Some people think that we have a,she or my family have a, she, even
the director of the call say, ah,you have a shepa in that street.
No.
And I say, no, I don't.
We don't have a shefa fromthe supermarket chain.
Wong started by Tucson foundersto the many Chinese parks
(17:31):
scattered throughout the city.
Traces of Chinese heritage areeverywhere, and yet Chinese communities
in Peru still don't receive thefull recognition they deserve.
There isn't even a dedicated museumto honor their contributions.
Organizations like ANA areworking to change that.
They're documenting the legacy ofTucson culture and advocating for its
(17:55):
preservation, particularly as Limacontinues to evolve today, there are
even two China towns, one in the originallocation near the central market, and
another in Sanha reflecting the wavesof immigration and the changing identity
of Lima's Chinese Peruvian community.
The Chinatown of Lima is Lima.
(18:16):
You just stand at the corner andyou gonna just take a look of all
the Asian elements of any block.
For Diana, preservingthis legacy is personal.
I want to someday make abook of recipes from my dad.
I hope that I can have that bookin Chinese and in Spanish as
(18:39):
my time in Lima came to an end.
What struck me most about theChinese Peruvian story is how
it challenges simple narratives.
It's not just a tale ofassimilation or survival.
I thought about my own family, my parentswho moved to the US with no roadmap, only
the hope of building something better.
I.
Their experience isn't the same asthose I encountered in Peru, but
(19:03):
I found it in the small things.
In every Chinatown, there's a story.
Actually, there aremillions of stories in Lima.
I found one that changedthe way I see my own barrio.
Chino and the places newer Chineseimmigrants are settling today are
places where blending traditionstrengthens rather than dilutes identity.
(19:24):
From Lomo, Aldo to Sopa Ton from the firstChinese migrants to the business owners,
community leaders in Tucson of today.
Lima has changed because of ChinesePeruvian influence, and as for me, well,
I'm still chasing Chinatowns, but maybenext time I'll bring a bigger appetite.
Thank you for joining me on thisjourney through Barrio Chino.
(19:47):
Until next time, IanAios and see you soon.
This podcast was produced by JennyDuan through the generosity of
the Braden Storytelling Grant.
It would not have been possiblewithout the incredible support
of Laura Joyce Davis, MelissaDurall, Dawn Fraser, and the entire
(20:10):
Stanford Storytelling Project team.
A heartfelt thank.
You to Rodrigo Compost, AntonioChang, Linda Liu, and Diana who for
sharing their incredible storiesas well as to the many others I
had the privilege of speaking with.
Throughout this process, music isprovided by Blue Dot Sessions with audio
effects from Pixa Bay and Upbeat, andthank you for listening to this story.
(20:33):
Stay curious.
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