The lion and the dragon: African experiences in China

Tens of thousands of Africans are flocking to Guangzhou, China. They are drawn there by business opportunities, and encouraged by the official discourse of a mutually beneficial Sino-African relationship that permeates China's deepening diplomatic and economic ties with Africa. A new land of opportunity has entered into the imagination of Africa. Yet relations between Chinese and Africans in Guangzhou are deteriorating. Rising racism, police harassment, and an increasingly stringent and corrupt visa system dominated by Chinese middlemen, has made life difficult for even the most successful. A number of Africans now live illegally in Guangzhou, unable or unwilling to return; the costs of getting caught are high. For many, life is not what they had expected. Money is not the sole objective: African evangelicals who see China as a land of potential converts also make the journey. Despite the number of Africans now in Guangzhou, the experiences of these migrants remain largely undocumented.