Black Ghosts

Noo Saro-Wiwa, a Nigerian woman, journeys through the People's Republic of China and records the trip as a memoir. Rather than sightseeing, she looks at the African migrants who have settled there to work and trade, and at how their lives relate to Chinese society, where they are sometimes welcomed and sometimes met with racism and prejudice. For people from Africa, South America and other regions shut out of commerce with Europe and North America, China can offer real opportunity, yet the same country is a place of hostility as well. In search of the so-called 'Black Ghosts', the African economic migrants who live in their own separate communities and play a major part in trade between the two continents, the author meets a varied cast. They include a Ghanaian heart surgeon, a drug dealer, a visa overstayer, and a Nigerian pop star who sings in Chinese. She also speaks with men who are married to Chinese women, whose English is spoken with Nigerian accents.