China's 'Chocolate City': An ethnic enclave in a changing landscape

Abstract

The recent rise of African communities in Guangzhou has been widely noted. To understand this 'Chocolate City,' with a series of field surveys in 2006-2010, we examine its different development stages and shed particular light upon its internal and external linkages. Three modalities: the emerging enclave, the prosperous enclave and the collapsing enclave, have been identified. The rise of the 'Chocolate City' has been mainly attributed to the rise of Sino-Africa trading and the efforts of local entrepreneurs. The prosperity of the City was backed by the local states. However, the involvement of local polices, the reform of the local immigration regime and the deterioration of economic relations resulted in its recent collapse. We argue that this 'Chocolate City' is a restructuring ethnic enclave underlying the impacts of 'transient glocalization.' The rise and fall of the 'Chocolate City' indicates the dynamic relations between the transient global-local nexus, immigration regime, and local geography. © 2012 Zhigang Li et al.