A Taste of China South of the Border

Thousands of Californians come to this border city every week to shop, go to the bullfights, spend time in a foreign land and eat Mexican food.

They also come to eat Chinese food.

Connoisseurs of Chinese cuisine know Mexicali as a city with some of the finest Chinese restaurants in the Western Hemisphere. And there’s no lack of choice--more than 100 Chinese restaurants are open for business here.

It should come as no surprise. Mexicali, which is just south of the California city of Calexico, has a Chinese heritage that goes back to the community’s beginnings at the turn of the century.

Indeed, there were Chinese in Mexicali before there were Mexicans. And throughout the first quarter of this century, the city had more Chinese residents than Mexican.

“In the early days of Mexicali, there were so many Chinese here most Mexicans were bilingual, speaking Spanish and Chinese,” said Ramon Wong, 62, a third-generation resident of the city.

As Mexicali became established, its Mexican population quickly surpassed and dwarfed the Chinese community. Of the city’s current population of 400,000, Mexicali officials estimate that slightly more than 2,000 are full-blooded Chinese and about 8,000 are mixed-blood Chinese-Mexicans.

Still, Mexicali’s Chinese community ranks as one of Mexico’s largest. And its influenceand importance remain strong.

Much of Mexicali’s downtown is owned by Chinese, as are many commercial buildings throughout the community. The city’s new $60-million Cachanilla Mall, one of the largest in Mexico, is owned primarily by Chinese.

“Chinese are involved in all kinds of businesses in Mexicali,” said Raul Escamilla, 46, manager of a large Mexicali real estate corporation. “They own ABSA, El Ahorro and Ley supermarket chains. They are in banking, land development, real estate. They own and operate department stores, clothing stores and a variety of commercial enterprises.”

Ramon Wong owns Casa Wong, the largest money exchange company in Mexicali, and is part owner of several other businesses. His family owns the Mandarin Mall, and he served as president for five years of the Associacion China Mexicali, an organization of the city’s Chinese merchants that has a membership of 600.

With pride, Wong said, “Chinese were pioneers of Mexicali. . . . They have played a leading role in the development of this city since the beginning.”

That beginning occurred in 1901 when the Colorado River was diverted and water flowed into the southeast corner of California and the northeast corner of Baja California. The U.S.-owned Colorado River Land Co. owned 800,000 acres in the Mexicali area and planted cotton on it. Workers from China were brought to Mexicali by the company to pick the crop.

“There was no one living in the area up until that time except for a small community of Cocopah Indians,” said Joseph Anderholt, 69, historian and curator of California’s Imperial County Historical Assn. Museum.

He said that the company brought in more than 10,000 Chinese men to pick cotton during the first two decades of the century.

“The biggest migration of Chinese to Mexicali occurred from 1910 to 1920,” noted William Hendricks, 63, director of the Sherman Library in Corona del Mar, where the archives of the old Colorado River Land Co. are stored. “Many Chinese later returned to China. Many stayed on and married Mexican women.”

Freddie Gee, 73, a longtime grocer in Holtville, Calif., said the laborers brought from China were not permitted to bring Chinese women to Mexico with them. “The Chinese were not allowed to buy land in Mexico, but many of them married Mexican women and that way were able to purchase property.”

Those who stayed came as farm laborers, worked hard, saved their money and, in many cases, went into business.

Now in its 90th year, the Chinese immigration to Mexicali continues. Acmex, a company made up of Taiwanese investors, just opened a $5-million industrial park in Mexicali for Asiatic firms. The companies manufacture products for export to the United States.

A Hong Kong muffler company, a Taiwanese sunglass firm, a Korean patio furniture manufacturer and a Taiwanese auto parts company have set up shop in the complex.

“We feel very much at home here,” said Grace Lee, 42, Acmex’s financial controller.

She moved to Mexicali from Taiwan five years ago, and the adjustment has been easier than she anticipated. Lee said: “The old Chinese families have welcomed us. The food in the Chinese restaurants is outstanding, comparable to the best restaurants in Taipei.”

Lee speaks Chinese and English. Now she’s learning Spanish.