Everywhere we travel in the world, we find ourselves heading towards Chinatowns for a visit. I don't think it's a need to be with other Chinese people, but more of a curiosity of what other Chinese people around the world are like. Buenos Aires' Chinatown is pretty surreal. Everything is just like the rest of Buenos Aires in the barrio of Belgrano. Actually, it's a really nice residential area. But, once you cross a set of train tracks, BAM, there's ah moos shopping with little pink plastic bags. It's just like at home, but not. Things are all written in Chinese and Spanish (great, we can't read either). And shopowners speak Spanish with a Chinese accent. When people speak Chinese, we're not quite sure what they are speaking. It's not really Mandarin, and it's not Cantonese either. Maybe they have their own form of Chinese here.
They have a bunch of kitschy tourist shops with the same crap that the stores on Grant Avenue sell at home. Damn, do Chinese people push the same slippers, fake toys, and snap bombs things all over the world? Apparently, we do in Buenos Aires.
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