I would love to have written more about the Chinese on The Wild Coast, particularly in Guyana ( I had some research material). However, although I met a few people of Chinese descent (e.g Brian Li, the headmaster in the Rununi, and the Chan-a-Sue family in Mabaruma), I never found myself with a particularly Chinese story to tell.
I would love to have written more about the Chinese on The Wild Coast, particularly in Guyana ( I had some research material). However, although I met a few people of Chinese descent (e.g Brian Li, the headmaster in the Rununi, and the Chan-a-Sue family in Mabaruma), I never found myself with a particularly Chinese story to tell.
There is now a remarkbale website, setting out the history of the Chinese in Guyana, and run by Trev Sue-A-Quan of Vancouver (I will post a link below). I was particularly interested to read that many of the Chinese left British Guiana and went to Dutch and French Guiana. There, in Cayenne, I was more conscious of a significant Chinese population (see picture; Majong players in Cayenne). However, as with Suriname, it is difficult for an outsider to tell which Chinese are long-established and which are new arrivals. Some, on the other hand, are from Hong Kong, and don't neatly fit into either category. One of the main bread shops for example is called "La Patisserie Hong Kong"!
There are now interesting issues surrounding the current influx of Chinese into the Guianas, particularly Suriname. Simon Romero wrote a fascinating article about if for the NYT (which I am sure you can google). Anyway, the retail sector is now dominated by the new arrivals, and this is a source of some resentment among the locals. For me, one of the big questions is: who is providing the seed capital for the new arrivals? It is interesting too that the older, established Chinese families (one of whom I got to know) are very wary of the new arrivals.
