"When the United States brought male Chinese from Canton to build the railroads, there was, of course, a quota system. Women and children--the
workers' families--were not allowed to come into the USA. The men, yearning to see their families, told them to come to the USA through Mexico and
enter by crossing the Mexico/USA land border. Most came through Mexico's western ports and attempted to cross at the border with Arizona and
California.
To prevent the Chinese women and children from circumventing the quota system and entering the United States via Mexico, the USA set up border
checkpoints. Those checkpoints, originally built to keep out the Chinese, became what we know now as the immigration checkpoints along the Mexico/US
border--currently preventing illegal entry to the USA not of Chinese, but of Mexicans.
Many of the Cantonese Chinese who settled along the border because they were unable to cross into the USA resorted to opening restaurants to make a
living. For that reason, the huge majority of Chinese restaurants in all of Mexico are Cantonese. I know of only one Szechuan restaurant in the
República."osoflojo - 7-4-2009 at 11:23 PM
Interesting, everyone knows Mexicali has the best Chineese food in North America, now we know why. Thanks for the prespective.bajalou - 7-5-2009 at 09:32 AM
There is a point north of San Felipe near the Highway 5 -3 intersection where, it is said, a group of Chinese died as they tried to walk to Mexicali
for jobs in the Mexicali valley.
El Chinero
MrBillM - 7-5-2009 at 12:47 PM
You can tell how long someone's been coming to San Felipe by mentioning El Chinero. You get a Blank look from most.bajalou - 7-5-2009 at 06:20 PM
Thanks, Mr Bill M, I guess I did forget to mention the name of the spot.BajaWarrior - 7-5-2009 at 07:35 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by bajalou
There is a point north of San Felipe near the Highway 5 -3 intersection where, it is said, a group of Chinese died as they tried to walk to Mexicali
for jobs in the Mexicali valley.
Here is a story I heard about El Chinero and it goes something like this...
A group of Chinese were headed for San Francisco but the ship delivering them came up the wrong "land on right coast". They were offloaded at San
Felipe and told Frisco was just over there aways, they only made it to now El Chinero.
Good Story
MrBillM - 7-5-2009 at 08:49 PM
Got anything on "La Gringa" ?
More Terrific Info
Gypsy Jan - 7-5-2009 at 08:49 PM
"Actually, the first Chinese to arrive in the Mexicali area came as laborers hired by the Colorado River Land Company to build the massive irrigation
system in the Valle de Mexicali around the turn of the 20th century. Some came from the US fleeing anti-Chinese policies of the US government, most
came directly from China to work on the project. The history of the Chinese in Mexicali has virtually nothing to do with railroad construction in the
US in the 1800s.
Currently, the percentage of the city's residents who are of Chinese descent is arount 6%. An excellent discussion of Mexicali and its Chinos can be
found in a good travel book: the Moon Baja Handbook.
This topic comes up frequently on the Mexico Branch of the Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree Travel Forum. I suggest you search there (and look at my lengthy
post made within the last six months or so)."
