I bars in Milan and of all the Lombardia More and more people speak Chinese. The advance is military, relentless, and has long since crossed the borders of the Chinese neighborhoods, where the Orientals are now absolute masters of the area, from shops to apartments, from the workshops handicraft to any type of restaurant. Barriers have been lowered, and not just within the heart of the Lombard metropolis.
Chinese-run bars in Italy
Statistics say that in Milan, excited by the excellent health conditions of the city, now one in ten bars is owned by a Chinese familyAnd if we look at other Lombard towns, we see a completely uncontrolled growth. Four to five hundred percent, in just a few years. In Lodi, in 2011, there were seven Chinese bars; in 2019, there were twenty-three. In Lecco, we went from three to eighteen. Another important aspect of this trend is the type of purchase the Chinese make, a sort of "turnkey" bar, where, in addition to the license to sell coffee, soft drinks, and sandwiches, there is also a license to sell tobacco. And thanks to the second lever, the all-in-one tobacco shop, the business of a small bar grows. And the coffers fill with cash. In practice, the bar from the Eastern perspective is a full-fledged enterprise that adds to the general expansion of Chinese businesses in Italy. Summarized in two numbers: 300 Chinese citizens residing in Italy e 50 thousand super active businesses, including bars.
Chinese-run bars in Milan
The advance of the Chinese in the universe of bar and Catering, of services related to these activities, and in commerce in general, is nothing new. If anything, two things are surprising. The acceleration of the phenomenon, which seems unstoppable. And the total indifference, a sort of surrender, on the part of every level of public administration (the city council, the neighborhood council, the region, the province, etc.). Hands up, as if nothing really could be done. This is what happens in Rome as to Naples, Venice as to Florence. Everywhere.
On the other hand, the Chinese are rich, have a lot of money to invest (often illegally) or launder, and have understood that Italy is a perfect place for trade. Especially small amounts, which then, when combined, become large. Our risk, our waste as Italians, faced with a reality we must deal with with extreme clarity, is something that goes far beyond economic aspects. This is where the stakes are. a piece of our identityAnd that's what we risk wasting, in our cities, in our neighborhoods. As individuals and as citizens.
Chinese bars and tobacconists in Italy
The bar it's not just any placeIt's not a shop like any other. It has a soul, roots, sometimes very deep, and branches that span the communities of a territory, a single area. A life, even a very intense one, unfolds around the bar, and that's why we can consider the bar a hub of relationships, human connections, and civilization. These are precious, yet intangible, assets that we cannot waste or abandon in our daily lives.
The French writer and essayist George Steiner defines the European identity, therefore also the Italian one, around five axioms, and the first is that Europe has always had in its bar-cafe their places of identity, In meetings and relationsWhere people once discussed, wrote, and, if you like, conspired. And where the comets of sharing, philosophical currents, artistic movements, ideological and aesthetic revolutions were born. Loves and moods, passions and conflicts. In a real café, and in Italy they are everywhere, this extraordinary genetic heritage still exists; it hasn't been erased by the coffee served and drunk only from vending machines. It hasn't been crushed under the tanks of web communication, and therefore deprived of physical contact. No, Italian-made cafés are still strategic places for our quality of life. And if we let the Chinese advance unchecked, we will simply have dealt yet another blow to the very way we interact, both as individuals and as communities.
Of course: we have to deal, as we were saying, with reality. The Chinese know very well where to put their hands and their money. Rome, for example, have advanced militarily throughout the Historic Centre, knowing that these are places teeming with tourists with open wallets. Chinese people dominate the businesses and restaurants on the streets leading to the Vatican. And if a Chinese person decides to buy from an Italian family, perhaps one that has owned a bar for generations, sooner or later they'll succeed. They have the unbeatable weapon of money, and the ease of negotiating when the famous "can't refuse" offer arrives.
WHY ARE THERE SO MANY CHINESE BARS IN ITALY?
On the web, you can find a rather paradoxical example of this mechanism. We now have sites entirely dedicated to the purchase and sale of real estate and commercial businesses between Italians, acting as sellers, and Chinese, acting as buyers, of course. This is the case with the site Vendereaicinesi.it: it even offers to translate the individual steps of the negotiation into Mandarin. Or the Neapolitan site Venderefacileaicinesi.it. The imbalance of power is also evident in what happens after the sale of a bar. Everything takes on the appearance of a Chinese world, starting with the language, the manners, and the tone of the people who work inside the establishment. To the point that in some bars purchased by the Chinese, as often happens in Rome, the work is reserved for Eastern citizens. And it is forbidden first of all to a specific category of potential workers: Italians. This is just the latest in a chain of damage and waste tied to the Chinese as baristas. And no one should dare to say that nothing can be done. Italian bars must be protected and defended in some way. How? As happens, for example, in Turin, where the Chinese make great efforts to visit the temples of coffee and hot chocolate. But of course, to help a bar owner avoid giving in to the lure of the Chinese, his life will have to be made easier, not crushed with taxes and other expenses. bureaucracy, and don't leave him stunned by the high rents that always hit the most vulnerable. Even in commerce. Even in the bar scene.
COFFEE, A COLLECTION OF PRECIOUS RECIPES:
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- Coffee Cheesecake: The No-Bake Recipe
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