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Chinese Jamaicans are
Jamaicans Jamaicans are the citizens of Jamaica and their descendants in the Jamaican diaspora. The vast majority of Jamaicans are of Sub-Saharan African descent, with minorities of Europeans, Indians, Chinese, Middle Eastern, and others of mixed a ...
of Chinese ancestry, who include descendants of migrants from China to
Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
. Early migrants came in the 19th century; there was another wave of migration in the 1980s and 1990s. Many descendants of early migrants have moved abroad, primarily to
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
and the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. Most Chinese Jamaicans are
Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka-speaking Chinese, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas, are a southern Han Chinese subgroup whose principal settlements and ancestral homes are dispersed widely across the provinces of southern China ...
and many can trace their origin to the indentured Chinese laborers who came to Jamaica from the mid-19th to early 20th centuries. According to one study, approximately 4% of Jamaican men have a direct Chinese paternal ancestor.


Migration history

Despite an old census record stating a "Chinese Painter" named Isaak Lawson lived in
Montego Bay Montego Bay () is the capital of the Parishes of Jamaica, parish of Saint James Parish, Jamaica, St. James in Jamaica. The city is the fourth most populous urban area in the country, after Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Spanish Town, and Portmore ...
, St. James, in the year 1774, most Chinese Jamaicans are
Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka-speaking Chinese, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas, are a southern Han Chinese subgroup whose principal settlements and ancestral homes are dispersed widely across the provinces of southern China ...
and can trace their origin to the indentured labourers who came to Jamaica in the mid-19th to early 20th centuries. The British parliament studied the prospects of Chinese migration to the West Indies in 1811, and in 1843 made an attempt to recruit Chinese workers to come to
Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
,
British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies. It was located on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first known Europeans to encounter Guia ...
and
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...
, but nothing came of it. The two earliest ships of Chinese migrant workers to Jamaica arrived in 1854—the first directly from China, the second of onward migrants from Panama who were contracted for plantation work. A further 200 arrived in the years until 1870, mostly from other Caribbean islands. In 1884, a third group of 680 Chinese migrants arrived. With the exception of a few from
Sze Yup The Siyi (Seiyap or Sze Yup in Cantonese; ) refers to the four former counties of Xinhui (Sunwui), Taishan (Toisan), Kaiping (Hoiping) and Enping (Yanping) on the west side of the Pearl River Delta in Southern Guangdong Province, China. Geo ...
, most of these migrants were Hakka people from
Dongguan Dongguan,; pinyin: alternately romanized via Cantonese as Tungkun, is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. An important industrial city in the Pearl River Delta, Dongguan borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou t ...
, Huiyang and Bao'an. This third wave of migrants later supported more of their relatives to come from China. Early Chinese migrants, primarily male, often entered into common-law unions with the
Afro-Jamaican ''See also'' Mulattos in Jamaica Afro-Jamaicans are Jamaicans of predominantly African descent. They represent the largest ethnic group in the country. The ethnogenesis of the Black Jamaican people stemmed from the Atlantic slave trade of ...
women who worked in their businesses. However, Chinese women rarely married Afro-Jamaican men. Interracial marriage became less common as the number of women of Chinese descent in Jamaica grew. Nevertheless, in the 1943 census, the government classified the nearly 45% of Jamaicans with some Chinese ancestry as "Chinese coloured" (mixed Chinese and African descent). When black and Indian women had children with Chinese men, the children were called 'chaina raial' in Jamaican English. The Chinese community in Jamaica was able to consolidate as men were open to marrying Indian women as there were fewer Chinese women in the community. According to Jamaican social historian Verene A. Shepherd, the sharing of women was less common among Indians in Jamaica. Indian men fought over the small number of Indian women, which contributed to an increase in the number of Indian men murdering their wives. From 1845 to 1847, Indian women made up 11 percent of the annual Indian indentured migrants in Jamaica. The influx of Chinese indentured immigrants aimed to replace the outlawed system of black slavery. It entailed signing a five-year contract that bound the laborers physically to specific planters and their estates and subjected them to physical and financial penalties whenever any contractual conditions were broken. The contracts consisted of a $4 wage for a 12-hour work day, also including food, clothing, medical care, and housing, although these contracts were regularly violated. Chinese immigrants could also arrive independent of the indentured system. These independent immigrants could come by paying their own way as an individual free migrant, or they could come sponsored and have their passage paid for reimbursement later. In 1917, the entire indentured immigration system was outlawed, largely due to pressure from
Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British ...
, who was then leading the nationalist movement in India. From 1910, Chinese immigrants were required to pay a £30 deposit and pass a written test to demonstrate that they could write 50 words in three different languages. The restrictions on Chinese migrants were tightened even further in 1931, but relaxed again by 1947 due to lobbying by the Chinese consulate. The 1943 census showed 12,394 Chinese residing in Jamaica. These were divided into three categories by the census, namely "China-born" (2,818), "local-born" (4,061) and "Chinese coloured" (5,515), the latter referring to multiracial people of mixed African and Chinese descent. This made Chinese Jamaicans the second largest Chinese population in the Caribbean, behind Chinese Cubans. By 1963, the Chinese had a virtual monopoly on retail trade in Jamaica, controlling 90% of
dry goods Dry goods is a historic term describing the type of product line a store carries, which differs by region. The term comes from the textile trade, and the shops appear to have spread with the mercantile trade across the British Empire (and Common ...
stores and 95% of supermarkets, along with extensive holdings in other sectors such as laundries and betting parlours. In the 1970s, thousands of Chinese Jamaicans fled a wave of inter-ethnic violence against them; at first, they went primarily to Canada, which was more open to immigration than the United States, with the U.S. becoming a major immigration destination later on. As a result, clusters of Chinese Jamaicans can be found outside Jamaica primarily in locales like
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
,
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
and
South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...
. However, in the 1980s and 1990s, there was a new wave of Chinese migration to Jamaica, consisting of
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
and
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
ese entrepreneurs who set up textile factories on the island targeting the U.S. market and often brought in migrant workers from China to staff their ventures.


Community organizations

In comparison to
Overseas Chinese Overseas Chinese people are Chinese people, people of Chinese origin who reside outside Greater China (mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan). As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese. As of 2023, there were 10.5 milli ...
communities elsewhere, hometown associations related to migrants' places of origin in China were not very influential among migrants to Jamaica. Some secret societies such as the Hongmenhui were active in organizing plantation workers in the 1880s; however, the first formal Chinese organization in Jamaica was a branch of the
Freemasons Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...
. Later, the Chinese Benevolent Association (中華會館) was founded in 1891. The CBA established a Chinese Sanatorium, a Chinese Public School, a Chinese Cemetery and a Chinese Almshouse. It also published its own newspaper. The CBA helped maintain a strong connection between Chinese Jamaicans and China, while simultaneously preparing Chinese Jamaican students for the Jamaican school system. The CBA continues to operate from a two-story building with guardian lion statues in the front; the ground floor is occupied by the Jamaican-Chinese Historical Museum. The building has been featured on a Jamaican postage stamp. The first Chinese-language newspaper in Jamaica, the ''Zhonghua Shang Bao'' (中華商報), was founded in 1930 by Zheng Yongkang; five years later, it was taken over by the Chinese Benevolent Association, who renamed it ''Huaqiao Gongbao'' (華僑公報). It continued publication until 1956, and was revived in 1975. The Chinese Freemasons also published their own handwritten weekly newspaper, the ''Minzhi Zhoukan'' (民治周刊) until 1956. ''The Pagoda'', started in 1940, was the first English-language newspaper for the Chinese community. The local branch of the
Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...
(Chinese Nationalist Party) also began publishing their own paper, ''The Chung San News'' (中山報) in 1953. Prior to Jamaican independence, there was an annual Miss Chinese Jamaica
pageant Pageant(s) or The Pageant(s) may refer to: Events * Procession or ceremony in elaborate costume * Beauty pageant, or beauty contest * List of pageants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints * Medieval pageant, a narrative medieval pro ...
, initially organized as a fundraiser for the CBA. It came to be supported by ''The Pagoda'', which wrote editorials exhorting girls from the Chinese community to join, and in some years offered sponsorship prizes such as, in 1955, a two-week trip to Miami for the winner, in an effort to spark participation in what was sometimes a sparsely attended event. However, as the pageant grew in popularity, it drew charges from Afro-Jamaican journalists that the ethnic pride on display there was "unpatriotic" and "un-Jamaican". The pageant renamed itself to the Miss Chinese Athletic Club, in an effort to avoid controversy, but nevertheless, held its final "openly racialised beauty contest" in 1962. Over the following years, Chinese Jamaican women did not participate in the Miss Jamaica pageant for fear of racial controversy. However, this informal colour line was broken in 1973, when
Patsy Yuen Patricia Teresa Yuen Leung (born 1952) is a Jamaican designer and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Jamaica World 1973 and placed 2nd runner-up at Miss World 1973 pageant. Early life Yuen was born to a Hakka Chinese Jamaican famil ...
entered and earned the Miss Jamaica title in 1973, going on to place third in the
Miss World Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Mi ...
competition in London; however, Yuen publicly portrayed herself as a completely assimilated Jamaican with little connection to her Chinese heritage, claiming in media statements that she didn't even like Chinese food, in order to avoid "disrupt ngthe official picture of the country's identity". There was also a Chinese Jamaican community school, the Chinese Public School. It was set up first by the Chinese Freemasons in 1920 (under the Chinese name 華僑公立學校), and operated until 1922; a Chinese drama club revived the school in 1924 (and gave it a new Chinese name 新民學校, literally "New People's School"), charging tuition fees of £6. The drama club continued to operate the school until 1928, when the CBA purchased it for £2,300 and gave it its present name, and moved it into a larger building. The CBA promulgated a new constitution for the school in 1944, which stated that it would follow the curriculum of the Republic of China's Ministry of Education and that Chinese was the primary
medium of instruction A medium of instruction (plural: media of instruction, or mediums of instruction) is a language used in teaching. It may or may not be the official language of the country or territory. If the first language of students is different from the offic ...
while "foreign languages" were secondary. In 1945, with enrollments booming to 300 students and competitor schools being established as well, the Republic of China consulate called for donations to renovate the school, eventually raising £10,000. In the 1950s, there was heated debate in the community over the medium of instruction, with some suggesting curriculum localisation in the name of practicality, while others saw abandonment of Chinese-medium instruction as tantamount to abandonment of Chinese identity. Practical considerations won out; the curriculum was reorganised with English as the primary instructional medium in 1952 and by 1955, the school only had two teachers who could speak any Chinese. After that, the school's fortunes fluctuated and it was finally closed down in the mid-1960s. The Chinese-Jamaican community remains prominent. In 1970, there were still 11,710 Chinese living in Jamaica. The community remains strong and they continue to celebrate traditional Chinese holidays, such as the Harvest Moon and Chinese New Year.


Interethnic relations

The Chinese establishment of grocery shops throughout Jamaica had provoked concern amongst whites and blacks in Jamaica as early as 1911. It was widely believed that the Chinese were guilty of arson against their own property for insurance purposes, whereas previously they were only accused of sharp business practices. Along with other immigrant ethnic groups to Jamaica that had made significant entrepreneurial achievements such as Lebanese, Syrians and Cubans, Chinese entrepreneurs were ready targets for the frustrations of some of the local Jamaican poor. According to a newspaper report (31 March 1934) on "pernicious drugs" in Jamaica, the issue concerning opium became one of the early roots of xenophobic attitudes against the new Chinese immigrants of the early 1900s. The white elites became intolerable of this new wave of Chinese migrants coming in large numbers as shopkeepers. The newspaper editorial (10 June 1913) made the distinction between the earlier Chinese migrants and their present "poverty stricken, ignorant fellow countrymen", who were blamed for the 'opium scare' in Jamaica now that the "natives are succumbing to the vile and deadly habit". This first anti-Chinese thrust was rooted in the opium drug trade. The foundation was set for the first and a massive anti-Chinese riot in 1918. In his book, Howard Johnson (1982) argued that, when compared to other anti-Chinese events, the 1918 event was a massive expression of anti-Chinese sentiments in Jamaica. It began in Ewarton and spread quickly to other parts of St Catherine, and other parishes such as St Mary, St Ann and Clarendon. The events were incited by a story that a Chinese shopkeeper in Ewarton caught a Jamaican off-duty policeman in a romantic liaison with his Jamaican "paramour". The shopkeeper and several of his Chinese friends brutally thrashed the Jamaican man. It was then rumoured that the policeman was killed which led to violence breaking out against the Chinese shopkeepers. During the late 1920s letters (22 September 1926) the colonial secretary L P Waison held meetings with the police. According to the letter, Waison accused the government for its failure to employ the law against Chinese immigrants: "such as the open exploitation of shop assistants; the breaking of the spirit and gambling laws" (peaka-pow). Waison's threats were drastic. He advocated extreme violence against Chinese, "that their shops will be burnt down". Newspaper reports in January and March 1934 described this "pernicious" drug traffic by the Chinese and expressed concern that it was spreading among the lower class of that community who were becoming "chronic opium addicts".


Religion

Early Chinese migrants to Jamaica brought elements of
Chinese folk religion Chinese folk religion comprises a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. This includes the veneration of ''Shen (Chinese folk religion), shen'' ('spirits') and Chinese ancestor worship, ances ...
with them, most exemplified by the altar to Lord Guan which they erected in the old CBA building and which remains standing there, even as the CBA moved its headquarters. However, with the passage of long decades since their ancestors first migrated from China, traditional Chinese religious practices have largely died out among Chinese Jamaicans. Some traditional practices persisted well into the 20th century, most evident at the Chinese Cemetery, where families would go to clean their ancestors' graves during the
Qingming Festival The Qingming Festival or Ching Ming Festival, also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day in English (sometimes also called Chinese Memorial Day, Ancestors' Day, the Clear Brightness Festival, or the Pure Brightness Festival), is a traditional Chines ...
in what was often organised as a communal activity by the CBA (referred to in English as ''Gah San'', after the Hakka word 掛山); however, with the emigration of much of the Chinese Jamaican community to the North American mainland, the public, communal aspect of this grave-cleaning died out and indeed it was not carried out for more than a decade before attempts by the CBA to revive it in 2004. Christianity has become the dominant religion among Chinese Jamaicans; they primarily adhere to the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
rather than the Protestantism of the majority establishment.
Anglicans Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
can also be found in the Chinese Jamaican community, but other denominations which are widespread in Jamaica such as
Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
(traditionally connected with the Afro-Jamaican community) are almost entirely absent among Chinese Jamaicans. Conversion of Chinese Jamaicans to Christianity came about in several ways; some made conversions of convenience in order to obtain easy legal recognition for marriages and births, while Chinese men who entered into relationships with local women were often absorbed into church community through the selection of godparents for their children and the attendance of children at Sunday schools. Furthermore, Catholic teachers taught English at the Chinese Public School up until its closure in the mid-1960s, which facilitated the entry of Chinese Jamaicans to well-known Catholic secondary schools. There were a large number of conversions in the mid-1950s, evidence that the Chinese were "increasingly trying to adapt themselves to local society"; a former headmaster of the Chinese Public School, He Rujun, played a major role in attracting Chinese converts to Christianity in those years. The newest wave of Chinese migrants from Hong Kong and mainland China are mainly non-Christians, but they have not brought with them any widely visible Chinese religious practises. A few of them were already Protestants and have formed their own churches, which conduct worship services in Chinese; due to language barriers, they have little connection to the more assimilated segments of the Chinese Jamaican community.


Cultural syncretism

Chinese Jamaicans have also affected the development of
reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...
. The trend of Chinese Jamaican involvement in reggae began in the 1960s with Vincent "Randy" Chin, his wife Patricia Chin, and their label
VP Records VP Records is an independent Caribbean-owned record label in Queens, New York. The label is known for releasing music by notable artists in reggae, dancehall and soca. VP Records has offices in New York City, Miami, London, Kingston, Tokyo, ...
, where artists such as
Beenie Man Moses Anthony Davis OD (born 22 August 1973), professionally known as Beenie Man, is a Jamaican dancehall deejay. His awards include DJ of the Year Award eight years in a row. His twelfth studio album '' Art and Life'' received a Grammy Award ...
and
Sean Paul Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques (born 9 January 1973) is a Jamaican dancehall musician. Paul's first album, ''Stage One'', was released in 2000. He gained international fame with his second album, ''Dutty Rock'', in 2002. Its single "Get Busy ...
launched their careers; it remains common to see Chinese surnames in the liner notes of reggae music, attesting to the continuing influence. Assimilation has taken place through generations and few Chinese Jamaicans can speak Chinese today; most of them speak English or
Jamaican Patois Jamaican Patois (; locally rendered Patwah and called Jamaican Creole by linguists) is an English-based creole language with influences from West African, Arawak, Spanish and other languages, spoken primarily in Jamaica and among the Jamaican ...
as their first language. The vast majority have anglicized
given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a f ...
s and many have Chinese
surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...
s. The Chinese food culture has survived to a large degree among this group of people. Common surnames among the Chinese population in Jamaica include Chai, Chan, Chang, Chen, Chin, Chong, Chung, Chow, Fong, Fung, Hugh, Kong, Leung, Li, Lim, Ling, Lowe, Lyn, Ng, Wan, Wang, Wong, Yap, Yapp, Young, Yuen, Yang, Zhang, Zheng and Zhu.


Notable people

*
Supa Dups Dwayne Chin-Quee (born November 10, 1976), better known as Supa Dups, is a Jamaican record producer, remixer and selector based in Miami, Florida. He is a member of the Black Chiney sound system. He is of Chinese-Afro-Jamaican descent. Pro ...
*
Tyson Beckford Tyson Beckford (born December 19, 1970) is a Jamaican Americans, Jamaican-American model and actor best known as a Ralph Lauren Polo model. He was also the host of both seasons of the Bravo (American TV network), Bravo program ''Make Me a Superm ...
, model *
Naomi Campbell Naomi Elaine Campbell (born 22 May 1970) is a British supermodel. Beginning her career at the age of eight, Campbell was one of six models of her generation declared supermodels by the fashion industry and the international press. She was th ...
, model, actress and businesswoman * Horace Chang, Deputy Prime Minister of Jamaica * Ashley Chin, actor *
Clive Chin Clive Chin (born 14 May 1954 in Kingston, Jamaica) is a Hakka Chinese Jamaican record producer whose work includes recordings by The Wailers, Dennis Brown, Lee Perry and Black Uhuru, among others. Chin was a pioneer in the establishment of d ...
, record producer *
Tessanne Chin Tessanne Amanda Chin (; born September 20, 1985) is a Jamaican recording artist, best known for winning Season 5 of NBC's reality TV singing competition '' The Voice'' as part of Adam Levine's team. She has opened for artists such as Patti LaBe ...
, singer * Vincent Chin, record producer and
VP Records VP Records is an independent Caribbean-owned record label in Queens, New York. The label is known for releasing music by notable artists in reggae, dancehall and soca. VP Records has offices in New York City, Miami, London, Kingston, Tokyo, ...
label founder and owner * Herman Chin Loy, record producer * Cornel Chin-Sue, Football player *
Delroy Chuck Delroy Chuck is a Jamaican lawyer, journalist and politician. He is currently (2016) the member of parliament for the constituency of Saint Andrew North Eastern and the Minister of Justice. Chuck previously served as the Minister of Justice ...
, Cabinet Minister *
Mark Chung Mark Chung (born June 18, 1970) is a former professional Association football, soccer player who played ten seasons in Major League Soccer. Born in Canada, he earned twenty-four cap (sports), caps, scoring two goals, with the United States men's ...
, Footballer *
Patrick Chung Patrick Christopher Chung (born August 19, 1987) is a Jamaican-American former professional football safety who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the New England Patriots. He played college football for ...
, American football player *
Mikey Chung Michael Chung (1950 – 28 December 2021) also known as Mao Chung, was a Jamaican musician who played keyboards, guitar and percussion instruments. He was also an arranger and record producer of Jamaican music, and worked with a wide array of ...
, guitarist and percussionist for notable Jamaican music groups * Sarah Cooper, comedian *
Ayesha Curry Ayesha Curry (born Ayesha Disa Alexander March 23, 1989) is a Canadian and American businesswoman, chef, restaurateur and actress. After guest roles in several television shows and films, she began hosting ''Ayesha's Homemade'' ( ''Ayesha's Hom ...
, actress and author * Vincent HoSang, Businessman *
Leslie Kong Leslie Kong (20 December 1933 – 9 August 1971) was a Jamaican reggae producer. Early life Kong was born into a Chinese-Jamaican family. He had a "relatively comfortable upbringing" and attended St. George's College in Kingston. Career ...
, music producer * Robinne Lee, actress and author * Michael Lee-Chin, billionaire businessman, philanthropist and the chairman and CEO of
Portland Holdings Inc Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...
* Rose Leon, Cabinet minister * Nicole Lyn, actress * Paula Madison, journalist, writer, and businesswoman *
Sean Paul Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques (born 9 January 1973) is a Jamaican dancehall musician. Paul's first album, ''Stage One'', was released in 2000. He gained international fame with his second album, ''Dutty Rock'', in 2002. Its single "Get Busy ...
, recording artist, producer and actor * Rachelle Smith, Football player * Karin Taylor, model and actress *
Kreesha Turner Kreesha Turner (born June 10, 1985) is a Canadian recording artist and songwriter, born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Raised in both Canada and Jamaica, she began her musical career after a successful audition with Virgin Records. She signed a r ...
, record artist and songwriter * Tom Wong, creator of the Tom the Great Sebastian sound system *
Henry Vernon Wong Henry Vernon Wong is a Jamaican-American physicist known for his work in plasma physics. He is professor emeritus at the University of Texas, Austin. Career Wong's early education was at Cornwall College in Montego Bay, Jamaica. He won a Ja ...
, physicist * Lola Young, singer * Byron Lee and the Dragonaires, musician, record producer, and entrepreneur * Josh Ho-Sang, ice hockey player * Phil Chen, bass guitarist


See also

*
Caribbean–China relations China plays an increasing important role of economic and developmental importance in the region and the relations with China have increased steadily over time. The Caribbean's relations with China, are largely defined as either: the People's R ...
* China–Jamaica relations *
Chinese Caribbeans Chinese Caribbean people (sometimes Sino-Caribbean people ) are people who are of predominately of Han Chinese ethnic origins living throughout the Caribbean. There are small but significant populations of Chinese and their descendants in all cou ...


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* *


External links


ChineseJamaican.com
{{Overseas Chinese2 Asian diaspora in Jamaica Chinese diaspora in the Caribbean Ethnic groups in Jamaica Jamaican +