|
|
of Ghana (may his soul rest in peace), and “Elvis” of Cameroon—who were very instrumental in facilitating my links with and insights into the African community in Guangzhou, which had just began to form in earnest when I arrived to begin my research. I thank Raymond of Ghana for sending me to places and discussing Ghanaian issues with regard to the community, issues I could never have unearthed with the naked eye of an occasional visitor to the community. I am grateful to Li Zhigang of Sun Yatsen University, who served as an academic contact and invited me to give a talk at his university on the African Diaspora in China; he even came along to one of my interviews.
In Yiwu, which I visited several times, I thank my collaborator, Dr. Ma Enyu of the African Studies Institute at Zhejiang Normal University in Jinhua, which is very close to Yiwu. Together, we engaged community members and even went as far as visiting several factories run by Africans. Wufei of Ghana was instrumental in helping me understand Ghanaian and west African issues in that community. I am grateful to Guo Jinping, who served as a translator on my first visit to Yiwu in 2008.
In Shanghai, I thank the owner of the AfroShanghai.com Internet discussion forum for granting me an online interview and for accepting me as a member of his forum. From it, I gained so much in terms of understanding the issues that Africans, especially Black English teachers, are facing in Shanghai.
In Beijing, I thank Guo Jinping, Sophia Shuo, and Wang Tiantian for showing me around many parts of the city, serving as guides and translators, and indeed actually helping me to administer questionnaires to members of the African community. I thank Dr. Lawal Marafa for helping me gain access to the Nigerian diplomatic corps in an informal setting to get some insights into Africa-China issues from their perspective.
In Macau, I thank my collaborator, Dr. Roberval Silva of the University of Macau, for assisting me to contact several members of the Portuguese-speaking African community in Macau. This led to an in-depth interview of two leaders from Cape Verde and Guinea Bissau and also to meeting several other people at an annual gathering of the Cape Verde National Day Celebration in 2009.