The influence of Chinese culture on the global scene is undoubted. Noodles, dimsum, the Chinese Zodiac, ad such--who has not heard of them before? The proliferation of Chinese migrants and China's penchant for exporting goods to the world may be said to be the major reasons for this cultural takeover. The existence of Chinatowns in almost all major cities in the world is testament to this fact.
That makes us wonder. Why isn't there a Chinatown in San Jose? After all, San Jose is one of Central America's major cities. It would've been sensible to have a Chinatown in this city but there aren't any.
Well not until now. The Costa Rican national government and city government of San Jose has decided to keep up with the rest of the world and build its own Chinatown or Barrio Chino in the heart of the city. This is a massive urban renewal project that aims to bring back the Costa Ricans to the downtown area of San Jose, which has been slumping for quite a while. At least US$1 million worth of investments will be placed in this project.
The Barrio will cover 8,300 square meters of land (around two acres) and is envisioned to have craft shops, restaurants, and traditional medicine stores in the complex, while Chinese-style gates will greet a visitor upon entrance.
Present during the inauguration of the Barrio Chino last Saturday were Costa Rica President Óscar Arias Sánchez, San Jose Mayor Johnny Araya, Beijing Mayor Guo Jinlong, and the Ambassador of China to Costa Rica , Wang Xiaoyuan.
Aside from the shops, the builders also plan to build a pedestrian mall in place of one of the city streets. Traffic will be restricted to enter this area, which will go to around half a kilometer in length.
The construction of the Barrio, aside from attracting people back to the capital, is also expected to help improve the relations between Costa Rica and China.
