Posts tagged with ‘China’

This is the cover of La chinafrique, the new book by French journalists Michel Beuret and Serge Michel. It features the photographs of Paolo Woods, whose work I mentioned yesterday. Of his subject matter Woods says: “For the 500,000 Chinese who have emigrated there is the promise of a 21st century Wild West. Some have struck gold and run large conglomerates that span whole regions of Africa, others are still selling their cheap goods on the burning hot roadsides of the poorest countries in the world.” Mr. Wood (pictured above) arrived in Nigeria from Shanghai in the 1970s. Today he owns over a dozen factories as well as restaurants, hotels and catering companies. He employs over 1600 workers. “He is an adviser to the President and has obtained the title of chief and the authorization to use police cars as his own.” In the above image the Nigerian gentleman holding the umbrella is actually a policeman. They are standing in front of “544 villas built at record speed on the Lekki peninsula near the headquarters of the Chevron oil company.”

This is the cover of La chinafrique, the new book by French journalists Michel Beuret and Serge Michel. It features the photographs of Paolo Woods, whose work I mentioned yesterday. Of his subject matter Woods says:

“For the 500,000 Chinese who have emigrated there is the promise of a 21st century Wild West. Some have struck gold and run large conglomerates that span whole regions of Africa, others are still selling their cheap goods on the burning hot roadsides of the poorest countries in the world.”

Mr. Wood (pictured above) arrived in Nigeria from Shanghai in the 1970s. Today he owns over a dozen factories as well as restaurants, hotels and catering companies. He employs over 1600 workers.

“He is an adviser to the President and has obtained the title of chief and the authorization to use police cars as his own.”

In the above image the Nigerian gentleman holding the umbrella is actually a policeman. They are standing in front of “544 villas built at record speed on the Lekki peninsula near the headquarters of the Chevron oil company.”

Congolese laborers and a civil engineer from the China National Mechanical and Equipment Corporation (CMEC) on the site of the Imboulou Dam project, 200 km north of the capital Brazzaville. CMEC site rules require the Chinese workers to wear yellow hardhats and the Congolese to wear blue ones. The photo appears in a new book, La Chinafrique, by Michel Beuret and Serge Michel. All the photos in the book were taken in 2007 by Paolo Woods, a former World Press Photo award recipient.

Congolese laborers and a civil engineer from the China National Mechanical and Equipment Corporation (CMEC) on the site of the Imboulou Dam project, 200 km north of the capital Brazzaville. CMEC site rules require the Chinese workers to wear yellow hardhats and the Congolese to wear blue ones. The photo appears in a new book, La Chinafrique, by Michel Beuret and Serge Michel. All the photos in the book were taken in 2007 by Paolo Woods, a former World Press Photo award recipient.

Africans in China: “Chocolate City” - the Other Side of the Story

Two excellent reports on African immigration to China, a cross cultural phenomenon that is not widely written about. “’Chocolate City’ - Africans Seek their dreams in China” was first published in the Southern Metropolis Daily in January 2008. The English translation appeared on Fool’s Mountain last June and has generated over 100 comments and much heated debate since then. The following passages are taken from the article:

“Every day after noon, “Chocolate City” begins to turn lively. Tens of thousands of black people seem to erupt from the ground in groups of twos and threes. Carrying large black plastic bags or wearing backpacks, they look through the stalls along the street. The stalls are filled with “tail goods” (excess production that did not meet quality standards) from thousands of small factories throughout Guangdong: blue jeans, unbranded television sets, hand-assembled cell phones.”


and…

“In their building, there are four or five African bosses who, based on their talent, sincerity, and of course a certain level of economic foundation, won the love of Chinese women. Some have had kids; yellow skin and curly hair, they look just like Barbie dolls. Based on the understanding of the mall’s manager Jiang Ganglong, for an African to lay down roots and open a store, it typically takes around four years of hard work. The primary reason they’re successful, is because they “have integrity, do things the Chinese way.”


Additionally, in this week’s New Yorker magazine online, Evan Osnos’s audio slide show, Nigeriatown, takes a look at the daily lives of Nigerians who have recently moved to Guangzhou. A lot has changed since this New York times article from 1989.

The photo above is taken from Evan Osnos’s audio slide .