Kolkata is a city of joy they say. People who have been to this city say that the city has its own soul. Out of many things that make Kolkata special, one of them is its special Chinese food and restaurants.
Some the city’s oldest Chinese restaurants are located in a quiet locality called Tangra. If you ever visit the narrow alleys of this locality, you would find a lot of Chinese settlers. Image source
The Chinese and their relationship with Tangra date centuries back. Many people have many theories about how they came and settled in the narrow alleys of Kolkata and became one with us.
It is said that Yang Tai Chow was the first man to arrive in the city way back in 1778. It is said that he came and settled in an area called Achipur.
Though today nothing remains except his tombstone.
When the Chinese came to the city around 250 years back they started working on the docks and later leather tanning, shoemaking and dentistry became their main profession. Today, these Chinese settlers have made this city their own.
You might be quite surprised to know that in Kolkata there are schools where Mandarin is used as the medium of instruction.
As the Chinese population started to grow they soon realized the need for a proper educational institute. Keeping this is mind, three schools with Mandarin as the medium of instruction was started for this purpose. Schools like the Chien Kuo Chinese school , the Sacred Heart Chinese
Schools like the Chien Kuo Chinese school , the Sacred Heart Chinese School and the Pei May School once had more than 1000 students but today the number barely crosses 100. The main reason for this decline is the fact that parents have realized that English is a lot more important language in India than Mandarin.
Kolkata is the only city in India where you can get your own copy of India’s only mandarin newspaper. A man called K.T. Chang runs this newspaper called the Overseas Chinese Commerce Of India.
Not only do they have their own schools in the city, they also have their own newspaper. In their hey-day, the paper had more than 800 subscribers but today the number barely crosses 200.
It was the use of these local ingredients along with their knowledge of local food led the birth of our beloved ‘Indo-Chinese’ food.
It was the  easy-going nature of the city that made the Chinese settle in Kolkata. The story of Indianization of the Chinese food is quite interesting. As they settled down in the city, quite naturally they had an interaction with local customs and local food. A lot of ingredients for cooking an authentic Chinese food was hard to get so they started using the local ingredients.
A lot of ingredients for cooking an authentic Chinese food was hard to get so they started using the local ingredients.
Today, this community is known for not only their food but also their beauty parlors.
Today, not only would you find a number of Chinese restaurants but also a lot of Chinese parlors in the city but it is actually difficult to imagine the city  without them.
Although these people have now started considering themselves as Indians yet the Government still treats them as immigrants.
Though they have been here for centuries yet life has not been easy for them. Every time they hear about some cross-border tensions they have their heart in their mouth.
But it is them we have to thank for the delicious Chinese food we have nowadays.
