NEWSLETTER

We ran around Chinatown in Barcelona and talked to a few people.

Photos by Boris Ripoll
Vice: Hi there. How old are you and where are you from? Hong: I’m 17. I’m from a small town near Shanghai. How long have you been here? About three years. How is China different from Spain? People here have more freedom, and there are lots of things to do and buy. In China, young people have responsibilities. I really like your hair. Thanks. I actually help my family at our salon. It’s fun. Would you ever return to China? I don’t think so.		Vice: Hi. Where are you from? Alex: Shanghai. I’ve been here many years now, so I’ve grown to like it. What differences have you found? Between Spain and China? Well, honestly they have a long way to go here. In big cities like Shanghai or Peking, things move faster and education is better. The Chinese people who come here have education, but the Spanish people don’t realize it. What do you sell? As you can see, almost everything from stationery to kitchenware and gifts		Vice: Hola. How old are you and where are you from? Jin: I am 31 and I am from a town called Wangton. What do you think of Spain? I don’t know. I was a teacher in my country, and here I am a waitress. Would you go back to China? Yes, I miss my family. Wait, the owner of this place doesn’t want me to talk to people. He gets mad. OK, thanks for your time. Good luck.

Photo by Richie Rizzo

Vice: Hi.

Zariche: Hi.

Where are you from in China?

Taiwan. But after 20 years living here I feel more Argentine than Chinese. I very much prefer to be here.

What’s so bad about China?

Everything is very fast there. Here everything is calmer. The times for food are even different there. In China, we have breakfast at 6 AM, and therefore dinner at 6 PM. At 10 PM everyone is sleeping. Imagine that!

So you sell food…

Yes, these are typical Chinese snacks… fast food.

Do you like what you sell?

Look, I don’t know if I like it, but it reminds me of Taiwan.

Photo by Hart Snider

Vancouver’s Chinatown is in the process of getting gentrified from a tragic, apocalyptic dump replete with junkies, hookers, homeless lunatics, and AIDS into a trendy yuppie land of expensive condos. So Chinese people have kind of moved on. In nearby Burnaby, there’s a new all-Chinese complex called the Crystal Mall. It’s like a tiny futuristic city full of designer knockoffs.

Grace is from Beijing. She sells “fashion for young people” part-time at a store called Designers Collection.

Vice: Where does your “designer” stuff come from?

Grace: Everything is made in China. And everyone is someone’s uncle or cousin or sister, so everything is connected.

How do they get here?

A luxury brand will approach a factory to make a certain number of bags—say 100,000—that will retail for $2,000 or more. The guy running the factory talks to his cousin, who works at an exporting company, and they decide to make an extra 50,000 bags. Someone calls their cousin who then calls another cousin and the next thing you know the bags are on the streets.

That’s a lot of cousins.

The product passes through many hands. Hey, do you want to buy a Chloe bag? Very nice, only $250.

Um, no thanks.


TO BE CONTINUED:
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