China Town in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Barrios of Buenos Aires.

China Town in Buenos Aires, Argentina

When one thinks about foreign community neighborhoods the first image that comes to our mind is New York with Little Italy, China Town, etc. This cosmopolitan city style, home to a rainbow of cultures and groups can also be found all over the world, specially with the latest globalization and huge immigration flow. Citizens of the world or non-citizens -for they don’t live within their nation- foreign communities have established their territorial presence within the welcoming nation’s culture as if they were back home.

In Buenos Aires there are several community towns all over the city. The first "town" within the town was located in La Boca. Italians coming in search of a better life, gathered together in this city area nearby the river. They lived in community buildings known as conventillos. However their culture soon merged with the local one giving birth to the low class porteñan culture, even the spoken language was influenced deeply. Any visitor coming to BA tells apart the Spanish spoken by porteñans from the rest of the known Spanish.

Chinatown in Argentina began to grow during the middle 80s, and funny enough is that the first people to come an live in this neighborhood were Taiwanese, latter on Chinese, Japanese and Koreans chose this location for their home.

In the middle of Belgrano, Chinatown or better well, Far East Town rises from in between the tall and modern buildings of this chick and beautiful neighborhood through Arribeños St., Mendoza and Montañeses St. Throughout these years, as the oriental community grew each nationality began relocate in other neighborhoods, such as the Korean Town in Flores Sur.

Nowadays Chinatown is not only a mainly Chinese neighborhood but a superb market place for all sort of fresh great quality and exotic products. Even more, some of the most renamed chefs shop for their groceries at Chinatown’s markets.

Chinatown has everything to offer to the visitor, from great food to all sort of oriental medicine and gym to very interesting cultural programs. During January, when China celebrates New Years Buenos Aires’ Chinese community does it too and it’s fantastic. On January 22nd the streets of South Belgrano dress up in bright red and golden yellow, as Dragon like puppets and chariots run through the streets undulating and waving at the fantastic rhythm of traditional Chinese music. The Dragon Dance is a must, and always a crowded spectacle, for according to Chinese tradition it’s good luck to dance in front of the dragon.

As the day falls and stars begin to shine, everybody heads to the many restaurants around to keep on celebrating and enjoying the beginning of a brand new year filled with joy and hope.