A woman from Uganda joins the party hosted in the local restaurant Cuidapao Barbecue to celebrate the New Year with other people from Uganda in Yanjiao. Photo: Courtesy of Nan Chang

Catherine Chiveso (pseudonym) from Zimbabwe, who moved from Guangzhou, Guangdong Province to Beijing for better job opportunities with higher pay, found her ideal job in Beijing. However, she did not find it a place to call home.

Instead, she found her home in Yanjiao, a small town in Hebei Province, roughly 30 kilometers east of Beijing.

"Beijing is just a work place; Yanjiao is where I rest and can call home," Chiveso said. 

Originally, Beijing locals discovered the city because of not being able to afford or purchase property in Beijing and decided to relocate to Yanjiao. Now, more foreigners are moving to Yanjiao to settle down. Among them are the increasing number of Africans who might make Yanjiao another "Chocolate City."

Guangzhou has been dubbed China's "Chocolate City" because an urban village in the city named Dengfeng is host to a large number of African immigrants, and has formed the largest African expat community in Asia, according to a CNN report last September.

However, over the past few years, manufacturing and trading industries in Guangzhou have slowed down, and the African community has began to scale down as well, according to Liang Yucheng, a sociologist based at Sun Yat-Sen University who studies how foreigners integrate into Chinese society.

While Guangzhou's African community is downsizing, an African community is quietly emerging in Yanjiao.

Metropolitan contacted the police bureau in Yanjiao asking for the number of Africans in the community, but the police bureau did not respond before the publication of the article.

 However, through many conversations Metropolitan has had with the local Chinese working in various service industries, including taxi drivers, real estate agents, supermarket owners, street vendors and foreigners who have lived in Yanjiao for over three years, they all said that over the past few years, they have seen an increasing number of Africans in Yanjiao.

A taxi driver named Zhu Junbo told Metropolitan that  every day generally three or four of his passengers are African.

"They are very polite, and some of them can speak really good Chinese. I started driving a taxi five years ago, and I have seen an increased number of African customers over the years," Zhu said.

Uganda people celebrating the New Year at a local barbecue restaurant Photo: Courtesy of Nan Chang

The barbecue owner made a cake with the Uganda national flag on it to show her friendship to her Uganda customers. Photo: Courtesy of Nan Chang

 

Every penny counts

Chiveso lived in Guangzhou for four years, and moved to Beijing one year ago. She said she has observed more Africans moving to Beijing in recent years than Guangzhou, which echos the trend stated in the CNN report that the African community in Guangzhou is downsizing.

"Guangzhou is just a business place, but Beijing has more job opportunities and the salaries are much higher compared to those in Guangzhou," Chiveso said, adding that one can earn more than three times as much in Beijing as in Guangzhou.

However, as salary increases, the cost of living also increases in Beijing.

"Take accommodation for example, if you rent one room in an apartment in Beijing, it costs at least 1,500 yuan ($217), and the living conditions are not good. Food and clothing are also more expensive," Chiveso said.

For expats like Chiveso, whose intention is to earn and save as much money as possible while working in China, they have to find ways to lower the living cost, and Yanjiao is the solution to that.

Working and living in Beijing comes at too high a cost. What makes more sense is to work in the capital for the higher salary, and live in small surrounding towns to cut the living cost, said Chiveso.

All you have to do is to get on a bus and pay six yuan to get to work, even with the transportation cost, it is still a better deal, Chiveso added.

"We are in China to earn money and to save up, we are not here to wonder and just kick back, so for us, every penny counts," she said.

The lower living cost is not the only thing that attracts African expats like Chiveso. They also like the more peaceful environment.

"Yanjiao is more relaxed, peaceful and quiet than Beijing. When you are traveling from Beijing to Yanjiao, you can see the transition from the peaceful isolation to the big bustling city," Chiveso said.

"I have never liked the noisy city life. For me, the best relaxation I can get is to live in a quiet neighborhood, open a bottle of wine at night and watch a movie by myself." 

More Africans are moving to Yanjiao because of the lower living costs and its geological advantage of being close to Beijing. Photo: Zhang Xinyuan/GT

Bringing culture to Yanjiao

 Africans in Yanjiao also bring their customs with them, and make Yanjiao a place with more diversity.

Nan Chang, a Chinese who is the owner of the restaurant Cuidapao Barbecue, has close contacts with the African community in Yanjiao since a lot of Africans like to eat at her restaurant.

On the last day of 2016, she hosted a party for over 120 Uganda people in Yanjiao for the New Year celebrations.

"I have always liked to communicate with foreigners. They are direct and warm. I lived in Russia for eight years, and I like the way foreigners party and how joyous they are," Nan said.

With the increasing number of African customers, Nan does everything she can to accommodate them. When some of Nan's friends from Uganda told her they wanted to host a party to celebrate the New Year, Nan offered her restaurant as the venue.

"I made a cake with Uganda's national flag on it. They liked it a lot," she said.

Nan also prepared music and cleared room for a dance floor.

 "They danced really well," Nan said. "I danced and partied with them all night. It's not just business for me; I enjoyed that night as well."

Nan has agreed to host another party for 200 people from Ghana this month.

The next Chocolate City?

Liang said that the African community moves from city to city in China; they first arrived in Hong Kong, then Beijing, Shanghai, Yiwu and Guangzhou.

"Being the capital, Beijing has more opportunities than any other city in China, so it naturally attracts the African community," Liang said.

"In addition, the small cities near Beijing have the advantage of lower living costs, and the transportation fees between these cities and Beijing are low."

Towns like Yanjiao can benefit from the influx of Africans, because they can rent properties and bring in more trade businesses, and that is good for the local economy, according to Liang.

"I do want to give credit to Yanjiao government and people for their acceptance of Africans. We respect each other," Chiveso said.

"This is a place where I can have a good life," she said.