Carlos Paz-Bordone

MEXICO.

A few years ago, Julia Wong, a Peruvian of Chinese origin, writer, poet, and cultural promoter, invited me to participate in her project on Chinese migration in Mexico. She wanted to do it with the gaze of Peruvian photographers because, in her opinion, this migratory process had permeated the Peruvian culture more. There had been greater social and cultural integration between the Chinese and Peruvians than between the Chinese and Mexicans. This could be explained because, in the case of Peru, it was the final destination country; on the other hand, in most cases, the final destination was the United States, and Mexico was a transit country.

My destination was the city of Guadalajara, the second largest in the country. Here I contacted the descendant grandson of a Chinese immigrant, Sergio Fong, who has a coffee bookstore downtown and is dedicated to making craft books with cardboard. Thanks to him, I was able to follow the thread of his family from his Chinese grandfather,