The article discusses the strong tendency for Chinese immigrants in Argentina to maintain cultural ties, evidenced by their food habits, social circles, and language use. It reflects on the community's tendency to maintain cultural insulation.

While enjoying a foot massage in Buenos Aires’ Chinatown, I chatted with my masseuse, a Fujianese woman in her late 50s surnamed Wang. Her life, it seemed to me, mirrored that of many recent Chinese immigrants to Argentina. She eats exclusively Chinese food, her friends are fellow Chinese and she still speaks mostly Chinese. While it is not unusual for migrants anywhere to gravitate towards their own community, the tendency appears particularly strong among the Chinese. China’s presence in...