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Transcript/ScriptUSAGM SHARE
PLAYBOOK SLUG: CTown Lima (5 of 11)
HEAD: Chinatown Lima: A Chinese and Peruvian Fusion of Food and Language
TEASER: Lima, Peru’s Chinatown is peppered with the influence of indentured laborers from China through food and language.
PUBLISHED AT: 05/31/2024 at 9:30am
BYLINE: Adriana Núñez Rabascall
CONTRIBUTOR: Adriana Núñez Rabascall
DATELINE: Lima, Peru
VIDEOGRAPHER: Adriana Núñez Rabascall
TRANSLATOR/VIDEO EDITOR: Veronica Villafañe
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA,
PLATFORMS: (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO _X_
SCRIPT EDITORS: ELee, KEnochs;
TRT: 3:29
VID APPROVED BY: ELee approved
UPDATE:
Links/Notes:
((INTRO))
[[Lima’s Chinatown was founded by Chinese migrants who arrived in Peru as indentured laborers. Back then, it was a meeting place for fellow countrymen, but today, it’s a vibrant commercial hub intertwined with Peruvian society. Adriana Núñez Rabascall has the story from Lima.]]
((NARRATION))
From the colors...
((Nat POP))
…to the sounds...
((Nat))
And above all -- the flavors – the ingredients that make up Lima’s Chinatown. It’s a fusion of cultures that can be experienced in the food scene here, says restaurant owner Vanessa Yong.
((Vanessa Yong, Chinese Peruvian Restaurant Owner)) ((Female in Spanish))
"One of the most common tales you hear is that when the Chinese arrived, they would say 'chi fan' - chi means eat and fan rice. When Peruvians walked by Chinatown, they would say: hey, what are the Chinese doing? chi fan, chi fan... oh, look, their food is called 'chifa'... and it stuck."
((NARRATOR))
Yong has taken the fusion of both cultures to her kitchen.
((Vanessa Yong, Chinese Peruvian Restaurant Owner)) ((Female in Spanish))
"What did the Chinese teach the Peruvians? The way to stir-fry, the use of the wok. But what did we teach the Chinese? We add yellow pepper, Peruvian pisco to our dishes. That fusion creates a super enriching intercultural gastronomy."
((NARRATOR))
Chinatown is a place Daniel Chung has been visiting since he was a teenager.
((Daniel Chung, Chinese Peruvian Citizen)) ((Male in Spanish))
"Chinatown is part of our history, where our grandparents brought us to unite the whole family."
((NARRATION)) ((old archive photos))
Chinese migrants first arrived in Peru in 1849, under the so-called “Chinese law.” As indentured laborers and servants, the Chinese filled the shortage created by the abolition of slavery, five years after the first Chinese arrived here. Most of them came from the Guangdong province in Southern China.
((Humberto Rodríguez, Anthropologist)) ((Male in Spanish))
"The great wave was between 1849 and 1874, when one hundred thousand Chinese arrived.”
((NARRATION))
After working on the land owned by wealthy Peruvians and fulfilling five to eight-year-contracts, the Chinese where free to start a new life. Many Chinese moved to Lima.
((Daniel Chung, Chinese Peruvian Citizen)) ((Male in Spanish))
"The first thing the Chinese did here was start businesses. That’s all they knew how to do here in Lima.”
((NARRATION))
Other waves of migration brought more Chinese to the country. Very few Chinese families still live in Chinatown, but the community maintains its cultural link to the past in the markets.
((Daniel Chung, Chinese Peruvian Citizen)) ((Male in Spanish))
"These are the Chinese mushrooms used in all Chinese stir-fries.”
((NARRATION))
On these streets, rituals connect Chung to his ancestors.
((Daniel Chung, Chinese Peruvian citizen)) ((Male in Spanish))
"This is the entrance to the Quan Qung Temple... Quan Qung is a Chinese warrior who has been venerated by the Chinese community over time."
((Nat))
((NARRATION))
There are currently about 3 million people of Chinese descent living in Peru. That’s almost 9% of the country’s population. And with China being Peru’s largest trading partner and a place where China is building a major Latin American port, Chinese people are still coming for business.
((NAT POP))
((NARRATION))
For the descendants of some of the earliest migrants to Peru, the Chinese language may be lost over time, but Chinese traditions, faith and food can still be found in Chinatown.
Adriana Núñez Rabascall, for VOA News, Lima Peru.
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
Subtitles / Dubbing AvailableNo
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateMay 31, 2024 09:41 EDT
BylineAdriana Núñez Rabascall
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
