Chinese Jamaican

"'Ethnic group
group=flagicon|China Chinese Jamaicans flagicon|Jamaica

caption =Notable Chinese Jamaicans:
Tyson Beckford• Naomi Campbell• Sean Paul• Bunny Lee• Clive Chin• Jully Black
poptime=Approx. 70,000 [ [http://www.joshuaproject.net/peopctry.php?rop3=103691&rog3=JM Joshua Project] ] Including mixed Chinese Jamaicans
popplace=Kingston
langs=Jamaican English, Jamaican Patois
rels=Christianity, Rastafari, Buddhism
related=Jamaican British, Jamaican Americans, Japanese Jamaican, Jamaican Canadian, Chinese Brazilian, Indo-Jamaicans, Afro-Jamaican

Chinese Jamaicans are the descendants of migrants and immigrants from China, who are citizens of Jamaica, or descendants of Jamaicans. Over the years, many Jamaicans of Chinese descent have emigrated abroad.

Arrival

Most Chinese Jamaicans are Hakka and can trace their origin to the Chinese labourers that came to Jamaica in the mid 19th to early 20th centuries. 75% of all Chinese indentured labourers dispatched to the British West Indies were sent to British Guiana in the late 1800s, but many later moved to Jamaica. About 96% of the Chinese who migrated to the Americas in the 1800s came from a small region in southern Kwangtung on the Pearl River Delta near large cities like Hong Kong. [ [http://www.chinesejamaican.com/history.html Hakka Chinese Jamaican] ] The very first Chinese Caribbean people were the 60 men aboard the "Whirlwind", which set sail from Hong Kong on March 11, 1860. [ [http://www.chinesejamaican.com/history.html Hakka Chinese Jamaican] ]

Cultural Syncretism

Interracial marriages came almost immediately, and along with continued immigration the Chinese Jamaican community grew, so that it became the second-largest Chinese Caribbean population, behind only Cuba. The 1946 Jamaica census recorded, 12,394 Chinese Jamaicans: "2,818 China-born, 4,061 local born, 5,515 Chinese coloured," with the latter referring to multiracial Blasian people. [ [http://www.chinesejamaican.com/history.html Hakka Chinese Jamaican] ] The term Blasian is an American term and not of Jamaican origin. It is not used in Jamaican vernacular.

Assimilation has taken place through generations and few Chinese Jamaicans can speak Chinese today; most of them speak English or Jamaican Patois as their first language. The vast majority have anglicized given names, and many have Chinese surnames. The Chinese food culture has survived to a large degree among this group of people.

Since the 1970s, there have been a significant emigration of Chinese Jamaicans from the island, primarily to the United States, United Kingdom and Toronto, Canada.

Notable Jamaicans of Chinese descent

* Earl Chin - TV persona. Famous for "Rockers TV".
* Tyson Beckford – model and actor
* Jully Black – R&B singer (her father is half Chinese Jamaican)
* Clive Chin (Record Producer - Java and other hits by Augustus Pablo, Fatty Bum Bum, and others)
* Black Chiney – a popular reggae/dancehall sound system
* Naomi Campbell – British model and actress
* G. Raymond Chang – Chairman of the Board of CI Financial and Chancellor of Ryerson University
* Phil Chen – famous reggae/bassist musician
* Lonny Chin – Playboy model, Chinese- Jamaican dad and Welsh-Swedish mom
* Staceyann Chin – a spoken word poet
* Vincent and Patricia Chin – founders of VP Records
* Walter Chin – fashion photographer
*Mark Chung -soccer Player Born to chinese-Jamaican Parents
*Dustin Chung - Chinese-Jamaican soccer player
*Tami Chynn and sister Tessanne Chin – popular female recording artists
* Omar Lye-Fook - soul singer (Chinese Jamaican father, Indo-Jamaican mother)
* Saskia Garel - actress and former member of Love & Sas
* Grace Jones – singer and actress
* Mona Hammond (born Mavis Chin) - actress
* Joseph Hoo Kim – famous reggae/dancehall record producer
* Leslie Kong – reggae producer
* Bunny Lee – record producer
* Jon Hoo Ruthless Warlord
* Kristin Kreuk - Canadian actress who is on the hit TV series Smallville
* Byron Lee – musician (known for the song 'Jump Up' in the first James Bond film "Dr. No")
* Michael Lee-Chin – investor and Chairman of AIC Limited
* Nicole Lyn – actress
* Sean Paul – a popular reggae/dancehall musician
* Karin Taylor former playboy model
* Cornel Chin-Sue football player
* Rose Leon Member of Parliament
* Ferdinand Yap-Sam Member of Parliament
* Delroy Chuck President of Senate

ee also

*People's Republic of China-Cuba relations
*Caribbean-China relations
*Chinese Caribbean
*Beur, an equivalent term referring to people of North African (particularly Algerian, Tunisian or Moroccan) descent living in France

References

External links

* [http://www.chinesejamaican.com/ ChineseJamaican.com]
* [http://www.jamaicanchineseworldwide.com/ Jamaican Chinese Worldwide - One Family (published by Huntsmill Graphics in 2004)]
* [http://www.caribbeanchinese.ca/ Caribbean Chinese Association, based in Toronto, Canada]
* [http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?&aid=69761&search_result=1&stid=10 "Jamaican-Chinese Family Embraces Dual Culture", NY1 News, May 18, 2007]
* [http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?&aid=69761&search_result=1&stid=10 "Multi-Ethnic Family Works to Maintain Asian Heritage", NY1 News, May 16, 2007]
* [http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?&aid=69724&search_result=1&stid=10 "Chinese Jamaicans Help Reggae Music Evolve", NY1 News, May 15, 2007]