Kunming (CNS) -- In Rangoon, Burma's capital, a Chinatown rarely shown in the media is booming.
Old-fashioned cars roar by on the way from Rangoon's airport, as row upon row of billboards are distributed throughout this ex-colonial city, exuding a sense of modernity. Rangoon has the largest number of British-style buildings in Southeast Asia. They are still standing, carrying the memories of old times.
Once the evening lights are on, the night market with pineapples, mangosteen, various snacks, and clothes, comes to life. Unlike Chinatowns in Western countries, no memorial archway is seen and buildings on the street are a little bit shabby. Yet Chinese styles are seen on every corner. The Goddess of Mercy and Guandi Temples are thriving, while Chinese shop signs are waving everywhere. A row of gold shops, grocery stores, and traditional Chinese medicinal shops are all competing with each other. Hongkong and Guandong style roast meat are very popular here. A Shanghai International Shopping Center has also been set up by ethnic Chinese.
Around 150,000 ethnic Chinese are living in Rangoon's Chinatown, mainly along Guangdong Avenue. They mostly speak Burmese and also wear traditional Burmese clothes like a longji (sarong), making it difficult for tourists to tell them apart from ethnic Burmese walking and living in Chinatown.
In an interview with a CNS reporter, an ethnic Chinese vendor in his early 20s spoke in broken Chinese. His grandma told the reporter that many of the younger Chinese, unlike their fathers and mothers, could barely understand Chinese anymore.
