Chinese set down roots in city
At least 100 call Yellowknife home today, says 9-year resident
Evan Kiyoshi French
Northern News Services
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Relatives of the Liu family questioned their sanity when they announced they were moving to the Arctic.
Family members Zhong Liu, left, Tingbai Liu, 8, and Xiaoyi Yan are originally from Beijing but have been living in Yellowknife since 2007. - Evan Kiyoshi French/NNSL photo |
Zhong Liu and his wife Xiaoyi Yan headed to Gjoa Haven from Toronto nine years ago after Liu landed a job with the Nunavut Water Board as an environmental analyst.
"At first they thought we were crazy," said Yan.
Moving from Beijing, China, capital of the planet's most populous country, to English-speaking Toronto 14 years ago was difficult enough, said Liu.
Tackling a language barrier while studying at Ryerson University was also tough, he said, and his wife faced the same challenges at the University of Toronto, where she trained to become a teacher.
So it was no surprise that family members back in China thought moving to Gjoa Haven - where around 1,100 other people were living at the time - was madness.
But the Lius said they enjoyed their time in the community.
Yan said people in Nunavut are friendly.
"People there were very warm," she said.
The family moved to Yellowknife in 2007.
"Yellowknife is much better in scale and scene," said Liu. "We feel really accepted here."
That year, the couple's eight-year-old son Tingbai was born, said Liu. Yan landed a job working as a literacy co-ordinator for Aurora College. She had to tackle a steep learning curve, but it's rewarding work, she said.
"It was so much fun and I work with amazing people," she said.
Statistics Canada figures from 2011 showed the city to have around 75 Chinese residents but Yan said she thinks there are probably more. Liu said he estimates between 100 and 200 Chinese live in Yellowknife today. Around 12 children attend a Chinese language class he runs, said Liu.
"Some are Vietnamese Chinese, some are from Hong Kong, some from Taiwan and some Jamaican Chinese," he said.
New Chinese residents need assistance from people like Liu to adjust in the city, he said. In one instance, he helped a new Chinese friend open a bed and breakfast establishment.
He said he's glad to see more Chinese coming to the city in recent years, since their presence has prompted local grocery store operators to begin carrying Chinese products.
The number of tourists from China has skyrocketed to an estimated 4,000 last winter from 100 in 2010.
"When we first moved here, there was almost no Chinese food at all," said Liu, adding the family were so desperate for the comforts of home they tried making tofu themselves.
Two or three years later, said Liu, Chinese food is on the market.
"Now you can buy tofu and more Chinese products," he said.
Eight-year-old Tingbai said he is glad his favourite Chinese food can be found on city shelves.
"Dumplings!" he said. "You can buy dumplings in the store."
Yan said family members in China who initially thought the family crazy for moving North have warmed to the idea of Yellowknife life and some have even come to visit.
Yan said her parents and her niece have both visited them in Yellowknife.
Liu said his parents went one step further. In order to be near their grandson, they completely uprooted and have been living in Yellowknife for the past two years. But Liu said his father Jimin Liu and mother Xuewu Wang are returning to Beijing in June.
