From Guangdong to Caracas: Why Enping Cantonese still choose Venezuela

The locals of Enping, a city in China’s Guangdong province, have a long-held saying: a coming-of-age rite is a plane ticket to Venezuela.

For most people, leaving home after growing up to seek opportunities in the South American country long mired in turmoil may seem far too risky. But for those from Enping, it might be the most stable and pragmatic choice.

“Almost every family has relatives there, or Chinese who were born there will come back to China to study, and then return after finishing school. That’s why we say the coming-of-age gift is a plane ticket to Venezuela,” said 27-year-old Feng Jing (pseudonym), who arrived in Venezuela more than a year ago, in an interview with Lianhe Zaobao.

Feng Jing’s mother went to Venezuela more than 20 years ago to make a living, and her younger siblings were born there. Having grown up in China, Feng originally planned to join her family after finishing junior high school. However, after Nicolás Maduro took office as Venezuela’s president in 2013 and the country descended into turmoil, the plan had to be shelved, and it was not until March 2024 that she finally set off. Today, Feng works at a grocery store whose owner is also from Enping.

In Venezuela, such stories of family migration are common. At present, Venezuela is estimated to have around 200,000 ethnic Chinese, with more than 90% hailing from Enping, a well-known hometown of overseas Chinese. This figure is equivalent to about 40% of Enping’s resident population.

The earliest wave of overseas Chinese from Enping migrated to Venezuela in the 1850s and 1860s, entering via Latin American countries such as Peru and Panama. After China’s reform and opening up in the late 1970s, and as policies on overseas travel were gradually relaxed, the number of Enping people emigrating to Venezuela peaked.

Why Venezuela? One key reason was that Venezuela, as one of the world’s major oil-producing countries, was once quite prosperous.

He Qilian, an elderly overseas Chinese in Venezuela, once told Chinese media: “Many people in Enping farmed the land at home. Poverty makes people want change, and rural folks really hoped to go abroad. If one person made it out, the whole family’s situation would be completely different. Usually, newcomers to Venezuela would have enough capital after three years, and then they would start bringing others over. The number of Enping people grew exponentially.”

One overseas Chinese interviewee revealed that in earlier years, quite a number of Chinese entered Venezuela illegally; if they got caught, “money could settle it”. They mainly congregated in cities such as the capital Caracas and Valencia, engaging in sectors including catering, retail, import and export, and manufacturing.

Many people from Enping earned their first pot of gold in Venezuela, but their fortunes also rose and fell with the country’s trajectory.

In 2013, after former president Hugo Chávez died of illness and Maduro took over, Venezuela’s political and economic environment deteriorated sharply, becoming a turning point in the migration journeys of many overseas Chinese. Earlier this month, a US military raid in Venezuela that led to Maduro’s capture once again cast uncertainty over the lives of the Chinese community.

When interviewed, Xu Maike, a 31-year-old Enping native who has been in Venezuela for 20 years and runs a restaurant and a construction renovation business, recalled, “After Maduro came to power, the US stepped up sanctions on Venezuela, and the currency depreciated badly. Many investors saw no future and left for other countries.”

The reasons cited by the US for imposing sanctions included democratic backsliding, government corruption, and deteriorating human rights conditions in Venezuela. Combined with a plunge in global oil prices and entrenched bureaucratic corruption, these factors caused Venezuela’s economy to collapse rapidly.

During those years, many overseas Chinese, along with other foreigners and local residents, left one after another. Those who stayed could only grit their teeth through the hardships, though some also managed to find new opportunities amid the chaos.

Another overseas Chinese from Enping, 33-year-old Cen Jinwen, said when interviewed that inflation at the time was severe. “You needed a sackful of cash just to buy a bottle of water… but many of those who stayed ended up making money.”

Cen cited that many factories withdrew during that period, leading to acute shortages of supplies; some people even had no food. “The Chinese who stayed saw an opportunity and found ways to ship grain in from elsewhere to sell.”

Faced with various difficulties, people continually explored ways to cope, which helped ease some of the pressures.

Xu Maike cited the response to Venezuela’s currency depreciation: in everyday transactions, people began using US dollars, creating a form of unofficial dollarisation that was tacitly approved by the government. “Only with a stable currency were people willing to invest, make money and feel secure.”

In Xu’s view, living conditions in Venezuela are not particularly bad, but outside perceptions of the country remain stuck in the period of turmoil years ago.

He said that water use is still restricted, but generally sufficient; there are occasional power outages, though within tolerable limits; and supermarket supplies are rarely short. As for public security, conditions were indeed chaotic a decade ago, but have improved markedly in recent years. “Going out at two or three in the morning isn’t a problem.”

In fact, many young people from Enping who have migrated to Venezuela in recent years no longer worry much about personal safety. Instead, they feel they can rely on networks of fellow townspeople, and that incomes may even become more attractive.

Cen Jinwen, who moved to Caracas three years ago and now works as a car dealer, said he previously worked in real estate in China, where the industry downturn made his income unstable. In Venezuela, by contrast, his monthly income now ranges from just over US$2,000 to more than US$4,000.

He said matter-of-factly, “There’s really nothing to worry about… there are Chinese everywhere here. As long as you speak the Enping dialect, you can find a job.”

Just as life for overseas Chinese in Venezuela had begun to stabilise, the collapse of the Maduro regime earlier this year plunged the country into renewed uncertainty. The likelihood of more direct US involvement in Venezuelan affairs has also raised concerns that China’s interests in the country could be affected.

Feng Jing has mixed feelings about the changing situation. “The president was arrested, and I saw people around me cheering… The good thing is that US economic sanctions should be suspended, so consumption will pick up. The bad thing is that future policies may not be friendly to Chinese people.”

She added, “What I can think of are issues like immigration and residency visas, and shop taxes. These are fatal for Chinese people, and this is exactly what (US President) Trump is best at.”

At present, oil trade remains a key pillar of China-Venezuela economic relations. However, most ordinary Chinese migrants are still engaged in grassroots businesses such as retail, wholesale, and food and beverage. For business owners like Xu Maike and Cen Jinwen, what matters most is not who holds power, but whether the business environment is stable.

“We’re not like those doing big business,” Cen said. “As long as there’s no war, it doesn’t matter who’s in charge.”

Although Venezuela’s overall conditions lag behind China’s, life there still has its comforts for overseas Chinese.

Cen described his gains over the past three years: “It was unstable before, but now it’s gradually stabilised, with something to look forward to… Many of us from Enping live very simply here. As long as we make money, that’s enough. There’s nothing too complicated.”

Feng Jing, who spends her days running a small grocery store, said frankly that her job comes with almost no pressure. “Chinese employees are mainly hired to watch the cash register and prevent other staff from stealing… Food and accommodation are provided. After working a few years, people usually open their own grocery store or supermarket.”

Living in a country that has just experienced an air strike and whose future remains uncertain, Feng nonetheless feels remarkably at ease. “I actually quite like Venezuela. It gives me the feeling that all anxiety is gone — life is very calm.”

This article was first published in Lianhe Zaobao as “20万广东人在委内瑞拉 崩塌国度中筑一处避风港”.

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