Why do many Chinese-Americans rarely face the "killing line"? This photo from the streets of New York explains everything!
If you come across a photo of a street in Flushing, New York — where Chinese signs are everywhere, the market sells water spinach and pig's blood, and elderly people haggle in dialects, with the background music being the theme song of the "News Broadcast" — you might mistakenly think it's a morning market in a third-tier city in China. But in fact, this is a neighborhood in Queens, New York: Flushing.
Why do many Chinese-Americans seem "unbreakable" and "unstoppable", even when the economy is down and unemployment surges? The reason isn't personal resilience, but rather a highly self-sustaining and low-dependency survival system.
The area of Flushing and its surroundings has gathered more than 300,000 Chinese, making it one of the most densely populated areas for Chinese in the United States. This number does not include new immigrants continuously arriving through family chain migration. Such a large population base has created a micro-economy that operates almost entirely in Chinese: from restaurants, supermarkets, beauty salons, real estate agents, to underground moneylenders, private clinics, tutoring classes, and even matchmaking agencies and funeral services, all available.
What does this mean? It means that a person who doesn't know English, doesn't have a social security number, or doesn't have a credit record can still find a job, rent a house, get medical treatment, eat, and send their child to school here. For example, a Chinese food delivery restaurant may post a message in a WeChat group saying, "Includes meals and accommodation, 2500 per month, cash payment." After working a month, the wages can cover the rent, and the remaining money can be sent back home. This "cash + meals and accommodation" model bypasses the requirements of the American mainstream employment system such as credit, bank accounts, and tax compliance.
In Flushing, renting a single room in a basement may only cost 400 dollars per month, while the same price in Manhattan would not even get you a kitchen. Vegetables in the local market are 30% cheaper than in Chinese supermarkets because the supply chain directly connects to agricultural product exporters in Fujian or Guangdong. This low-cost ecosystem allows those with low income to maintain a basic decent life — not ending up on the streets, nor falling into a debt abyss due to a single unemployment.
Behind this is the incredible resilience of the Chinese, which even whites find hard to believe. No matter how bad the environment is, they can survive, and their diligence and cleverness are the fundamental reasons why Chinese people in the United States avoid the killing line.
Original: toutiao.com/article/1853260712400964/
Statement: The article represents the personal views of the author.