為你，心甘情愿

The restaurant that Joey and Ugo Okonkwo own was packed on a recent Saturday night， with meal-time 1）banter alternating between English， Cantonese Chinese， and Nigerian dialects among the mainly Nigerian 2）patrons and the occasional Chinese girlfriend. In this bustling southern port city， it’s not an uncommon sight. Nor is the sight of marriages like Joey and Ugo’s. In Guangzhou， just next door to Hong Kong， a growing number of African traders and immigrants are marrying Chinese women， and mixed families like Joey and Ugo are grappling with questions about race and nationality， in a country that is often proud to be monocultural and is known for sometimes harsh 3）xenophobia.

Joey， who is a native of Guangzhou， speaks English with a West African lilt， which she picked up from Ugo， who is from Anambra State in southeastern Nigeria. Joey， whose Chinese name is Li Jieyi， says people regularly look at her 2-year-old daughter Amanda and wonder about her origins. “Foreigners say she looks like me， Chinese say she looks like her father. I don’t know why，” Joey says as she bustles around the restaurant.

China is home to 56 ethnicities. 90 percent of the population belongs to the Han ethnic group， while just 0.04 percent are foreigners， such as Africans. Even in Guangzhou， a cosmopolitan city of 10 million once known as Canton， they stand out. Around 20，000 Africans—mostly Nigerians—live here， thought to be one of the largest groups of foreigners in the city. Local media reports that the true number could be closer to 100，000， counting visitors and those without valid visas. 4）émigré groups estimate there are now some 400 African-Chinese families in Guangzhou.

For Africans， settling in China can be particularly 5）fraught with problems. While Americans and Europeans gain some respect from their nations’ economic strength， prejudice results in mistaken assumptions toward African migrants， such as： “they still can’t run their own countries in Africa，” says M. Dujon Johnson， author of the book Race and Racism in China. “So Chinese people feel ‘we’re definitely better than them.’”

“As a result，” says Mr. Johnson， “when mixed marriages do happen， the Africans tend to be better educated or wealthier than the average Chinese person. Although there may be social 6）stigma， there’s still the upward mobility.”

Mixed families face unique challenges in China. Complex residency rules and tightening immigration laws have precipitated a spike in the number of Africans staying illegally， raising more questions about fake marriages. Foreign 7）spouses don’t qualify for residency unless they’ve lived in China for five years. Many Africans in Guangzhou have to renew their visas every few months， and live under the constant threat of separation from their families.

Ugo came to China 10 years ago because he was finding it impossible to run a business in Nigeria. He started exporting clothes to Nigeria， and finally made money handling manufacturing orders for Nigerian companies. He used some of his profits to start the restaurant with Joey， whom he married about four years ago. Ugo was planning to launch another business back home， but he wasn’t sure his family could cope with life there. Race was never a problem for his inlaws， he says. He speaks both Cantonese and Mandarin and respects his wife’s obligations to her parents. For other locals who didn’t know him， however， the assumption is that he can’t understand the language， and they sometimes hurl abuse at him.“You go to rent a house， and people say ‘You are a black monkey， there is no use in giving you a house，’” he says. He confronts people and while some are 8）brazen， some apologize. “Now it’s getting better，” he says， “because they’re getting used to us.”

Some Africans also worry that they’re being forced to compromise their parental rights. Some biracial children in China don’t qualify for a government-issued identification document unless they are registered under the Chinese mother’s family name. Children need that identification document to enroll in state schools， and have to pay tuition if they don’t have it.

Many Africans don’t realize this， or refuse， according to Ojukwu Emma， who heads a network of African community groups and who is also married to a Chinese woman. They end up having to pay school fees that range from 2000 to 5000 RMB a year. “The cost of education is very high， most of the children are not going to school，” Mr. Emma says. “The community has been trying to start an African-Chinese school， and even has a building， but it would take diplomatic intervention for it to be approved.”

There is a sense that interracial families are still a 9）taboo， says Elochukwu Chikwendu， head of a support group for mixed families and one of the first Nigerians in Guangzhou to marry a Chinese woman. Chinese relatives， even those with coveted Communist Party memberships， fear they will be thrown out if a relation marries an African， he says. But none of that stops people from falling in love.

“Love doesn’t have any boundaries， you do anything for someone that you love，”says Mr. Chikwendu.

喬伊和烏戈·奧孔庫沃經營的餐館在最近的一個周六晚上擠滿了顧客，在用餐期間，餐館內占多數的尼日利亞老顧客及偶爾出現的中國女伴逗鬧著，夾雜著英語、粵語和尼日利亞方言。在這個繁華的南部港口城市，這并不是種罕見的景象。同樣，喬伊和烏戈這樣的婚姻組合也是見慣不怪了。在廣州這座緊鄰香港的城市，越來越多的非洲商人及非洲移民與中國女子結婚。在這個時常以自己的單一文化為傲而且有時頗為排外的國度，像喬伊和烏戈這樣的混合家庭正與種族、國籍這類問題角力。

喬伊是一個廣州本地人，說英語時帶著一種西非式的抑揚頓挫，這是她從烏戈那兒學來的，烏戈則來自尼日利亞東南部的阿南布拉州。喬伊的中文名字叫做李潔儀（音譯），她說人們常?？粗齼蓺q大的女兒阿曼達，好奇她是哪國人。“外國人說她長得像我，中國人說她長得像她爸爸。我不知道為什么，”喬伊邊說邊在餐館里忙活。

中國有56個民族。90%的人口都是漢族，而只有0.04%是外國人，比如說非洲人。即使是在廣州，一個曾以“Canton”之名聞名遐邇，并且擁有一千萬人口的國際化大都市，喬伊和烏拉的結合還是很扎眼。大約有兩萬名非洲人——多半是尼日利亞人——住在廣州，被認為是這座城市里最大的異國群體之一。當地媒體報道，算上游客以及那些沒有有效簽證的非洲人的話，真實數字應該將近十萬人。移民團體預估當下在廣州大約有400個中非混合家庭?！?br>