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gone Chinese! Why this phenomenon? There have been Chinese in Sri Lanka for centuries but what has prompted this sudden proliferation of goods and services? "It's just that the number of Chinese who are either permanently or temporarily resident in Sri Lanka has grown during the past few years. And the demand for Chinese produce has increased greatly," says Anil Seneviratne of Kollupitiya Groceries, a shop that sells some Chinese products. Right next door is another grocery store that sells Chinese goods almost exclusively. "I've been at the market for the past ten years but I only began to sell Chinese goods three years ago," says the proprietor of ‘A One Traders’. "I feel that 90% of the expatriates in Sri Lanka are Chinese and not many of the shops have the food and grocery items that they are looking for. It's a niche market, which is catching on." Everything available has to be on display. "The labels are usually in Chinese, and due to the language barrier the customer has to see everything!" We found a Chinese supermarket down a quiet by-lane in Colombo 3 that has been selling Chinese speciality goods for the past five years. "When we first started out it was mainly the restaurants that came to us, but now there are more families coming in to purchase goods," said a salesperson. There's Chinese cabbage, Chinese leeks and certain other vegetables used in a typical Chinese chop suey to choose from. Groceries apart, there are medical clinics, beauty parlours and Chinese stationery all over Colpetty. If you were to pick up any of the little toys or plastic food containers available on the pavements, it's likely to have the "Made in China" label. "I think it's due to the fact that Chinese goods are relatively cheaper," says the proprietor of the Chinese Gift Palace, which is a relatively old Chinese goods store on Galle Road, Wellawatte. "My father came here in the 1930s for trade and we stayed on. It's not the old generation Chinese who came to Sri Lanka long years ago who have started up these businesses. It's the new generation." The new generation Chinese are those who have come to Sri Lanka for trade during the past few years. "There's a lot of promise in this country and that is what draws such a lot of Chinese and Chinese goods here!" He feels that as China mass produces many goods, traders are able to export them relatively cheap. Local traders find that the inexpensive Chinese goods are fast moving. Dr. Pan Rong has been in Sri Lanka for the past fifteen years. His Chinese clinic specializes in the treatment of diabetes, women's ailments, acne, tennis elbow etc. "I am more at ease in Sri Lanka. The interest in Chinese medicine has grown over the years and that is why I feel that such a large number of Chinese medical clinics have opened up." He only sells Chinese medicine, but unlike the grocery shops we visited his clientele covers both Lankans and Chinese. "Heng Feng Trading" is another Chinese speciality store, where the entire staff is Chinese. They sell everything from Chinese wines to Chinese toothpaste, toothbrushes and everything in between. "Though it's mainly the Chinese expatriates who visit our shop there are the occasional locals who drop in. They are usually restaurant owners on the look out for speciality goods for their menus," says Zim Xu Ping. Sri Lankans, it seems, no longer have to travel all the way to mainland China. China has come to Colombo, or at least the goods have! |
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Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
Chinatown.
It only exists in New York and Australia, or so we thought. But
that was before The Sunday Times took a leisurely walk down the
streets of Colombo 3.
Says
Ashroff, a third generation vegetable dealer in the Colpetty market,
"Even we have picked up a bit of the Chinese language! It's
only then that we can effectively sell our goods!" His large
vegetable stall is overflowing with neatly arranged vegetables,
several of which are part of a Chinese meal.
