La Mesa (Tijuana) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
La Mesa
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Borough (Delegación) of Tijuana
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| Delegación La Mesa | |
Part of Cerro Colorado
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 La Mesa
Location in Tijuana Centro
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| Country | Mexico |
| State | Baja California |
| Municipality (municipio) | Tijuana |
| Area code(s) | 664 |
La Mesa is a special district or "borough" within the big city of Tijuana in Baja California, Mexico. It's an important part of the city with many interesting places.
This area is home to some cool spots! You can find Morelos Park here, which is the biggest public park in Tijuana. It's a great place for outdoor fun and activities. La Mesa also has popular shopping centers like Plaza Mundo Divertido and Macroplaza, where you can find many stores. A university called CETYS is also located in this district.
La Mesa is also known for its busy public transportation hub called Cinco y Diez. This area is a major retail spot where many people go to shop. A new mall and complex called Península opened here in 2022, adding even more places to visit.
Contents
Discovering La Mesa's Chinese Community
La Mesa is home to a special area known as Barrio Chino, which means "Chinese Neighborhood." This part of La Mesa is where many people of Chinese heritage live. In 2012, about 15,000 ethnic Chinese immigrants lived here. This number had grown a lot from about 5,000 people in 2009. This community is the second largest of its kind in Tijuana.
Sometimes, local newspapers have talked about the mayor of Tijuana supporting the official creation of this "Barrio Chino." Some local people had concerns about this, as they saw China as a big competitor in trade with the United States. Despite this, special events are held during the summer to celebrate this unique area in La Mesa.
How the Chinese Community Grew
The Chinese community in Tijuana started a long time ago, around the late 1800s and early 1900s. During this time, many Chinese immigrants in the United States faced difficulties and left California. Tijuana, being a border town, became an important stop for them. Many were on their way to Mexicali, another city in Baja California, where the Chinese community eventually became very large.
Thousands of Chinese immigrants traveled through Tijuana, often walking about 120 miles to the east to reach cities like Ensenada and Mexicali. By the 1920s, about 15,000 Chinese people gathered in Mexicali to avoid the Mexican civil war happening at the time. For many decades, the Chinese population in Tijuana remained small due to various reasons.
Modern Growth and Connections
Things began to change in the early 2000s. An airline called Aeromexico started flying from Mexico City to Tokyo, Japan, with a stop in Tijuana. This created a direct flight from Tijuana to Japan. Then, in 2008, the airline began flying from Mexico City to Shanghai, China, also with a stop in Tijuana. This created a direct connection between Tijuana and China.
Experts believe this direct flight helped the Chinese immigrant population grow quickly in Tijuana. There were 5,000 Chinese immigrants in 2009, and this number jumped to 15,000 by 2012. In 2012, the Chinese community in La Mesa started to make their presence more known. Before this, the community mostly kept to itself. This Chinatown is special because it wasn't mainly created for businesses, but rather grew from the community itself.
See Also
In Spanish: La Mesa (Tijuana) para niños
