Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c13.s4.t4.8

v2.c13.s4.t4.8

It is possible to identify some distinct regional groups among the Chinese in India. The earliest arrivals were mainly Cantonese who were particularly renowned for being excellent carpenters. Another group belong to the Hakka community. Many of them entered the tannery business and set up their businesses and residences in Tangra. They also became renowned shoemakers. A third smaller group originally came from Hubei province in central China. Many of them were traditionally ‘teeth-setters’ and over time evolved into modern dentists. Due to the nature of their work, they are more widely dispersed in different towns and cities of India than the other groups. In more recent decades, Chinese in India have moved into other occupations as well and are particularly known for their restaurants, beauty parlours, laundries and other ventures. Over decades, the Tangra locality of Calcutta evolved into India’s main ‘Chinatown’. The Chinese families have gone to great lengths to retain their language and other cultural characteristics as well as their community consciousness. They have given rise to several Chinese language newspapers, of which two remain in circulation: *The Chinese Journal of India* and *The Overseas Chinese Commerce of India*. Although in recent years, they have faced the problem of declining enrolment leading to full or partial closure, the community has given rise to several Chinese medium schools for their children including the Pei Mei, Mei Kong, Chen Kuo and the Sacred Heart schools. Several Chinese temples have also been built. Chinese New Year as well as other Chinese festivals are celebrated exuberantly and in a traditional manner by the community, particularly in Calcutta. It has become a custom among the Kolkata Chinese to pay an annual visit to Achipur, the place of the earliest settlement of their community on the occasion of Chinese New Year. There they pay their respects at the tomb of Atchew which still exists.