Chinatown in San Jose, Costa Rica

The Municipality of San Jose and the Chinese Chamber of industry and Commerce are pushing for the creation of a Chinatown in the capital city.

The Municipality’s initiative is centered on how to attract tourists and rejuvenate the area and the Chinese community foresees a big interest among businesses people to invest in the project.

Chinatown will be an area of the Costa Rica’s capital city San Jose where people can buy Chinese products, enjoy food from this country and learn about the culture.

It will be located on Paseo de los Estudiantes, between 7th and 11th street, to begin with it will occupy two blocks. However, it could be extended depending on the investments of the Asian business people living in Costa Rica.

The Mayor of San Jose Johnny Araya said that this area was selected because there already exists several Chinese restaurants, one supermarket and a shop with Chinese merchandise in the area.

“The idea is to mark the quarter as a Chinatown and motivate private investment, cultural centers, restaurants and other kind of businesses”, said Araya.

The Mayor John Araya said that the project is in phase of proposal but it is supported by the Chinese community in Costa Rica. He said that a date has not been set, but it will soon be decided, so the city will have another attraction. The tourists will have the chance to find products from China and it will be an important cultural exchange.

“The Chinese culture is very old and it will be an attractive addition to San Jose. Other cities in the world have a Chinatown and we think that this is a very interesting project for Costa Rica”, said Araya.

The municipality will construct a boulevard which will make an easy access to the Paseo de Los Estudiantes area. The Municipality asked for financial support from the Chinese government to construct this boulevard.

Real Estate Investment “Explosion.”

Isabel Young, President of the Costa Rica-China Chamber of Industry and Commerce said that this project is very important and they support it because, she thinks that it will be an explosion of investments in the area. The tourism will increase like it has happened in other countries where there are Chinatowns.

There will be one place where people can find Chinese merchandise, food, typical Chinese souvenirs, etc. The president of the chamber said that the business people who will locate themselves in the area will be able to decorate their shops with their typical ornaments making the area very attractive and one of the most colourful of the city.

Our thanks to our friends at La Nación – Costa Rica’s largest Spanish circulation newspaper for their permission use this article.

[custom_script adID=97]

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.