Qingtian: Chinese Immigration in Barcelona

In 1980, 677 Chinese citizens appeared in the Spanish Census. More than 120,000 are registered today, a quarter of whom live in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona. Some 70% of all Chinese immigrants are from the same region, Qingtian, an area of forested mountains to the south of Shanghai with only half a million inhabitants and a long migratory tradition.

 

With a new documentary filmed by a team of researchers from the Pompeu Fabra University and a panel discussion, the CCCB offers an approximation to the social and cultural reality of the Qingtian region and the lives of the immigrants once they have arrived in Barcelona. This session is part of the cycle "Origins", the aim of which is to learn more about the places of origin of our new neighbours and to reflect upon the plurality of the immigrant population in Barcelona.

Participating in the panel discussion are:

Joaquín Beltrán, social anthropologist and lecturer in East Asian Studies at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Among his publications are Los ocho inmortales cruzan el mar. Chinos en Extremo Occidente (The Eight Immortals Cross the Sea. Chinese in the Far West - Edicions Bellaterra, 2003) and (co-authored with Amelia Sáiz) Els xinesos a Catalunya. Família, educació i integració (Chinese in Catalonia: Family, Education and Integration - Alta Fulla, 2001).

Carles Brasó, researcher in East Asian Studies at the Pompeu Fabra University. He was one of the team that made the documentary "Guicheng. Viatge de retorn" (Guicheng. The Journey Back), which includes conversations with leading figures among the Chinese immigrants in Barcelona. The film is to be shown at the start of the session.

Sushan Qu, graduate in Political Science from the Pompeu Fabra University and cultural and community mediator in the Badalona City Council.

 

Moderator:

Luis Benvenuty, journalist at La Vanguardia, and author of the book Mudanzas (Moving Home - RBA Libros, 2008).