Overseas Chinese in Panama's tapestry

I spent most of my first visit to Panama, in June, in the mountainous region near the Costa Rican border. We visited relatives who had moved to the small town of Volcan at the foot of the Baru Volcano, which gives the town its name.

Panama, and especially this part of the Chiriqui province, is about as different from Beijing as you can get. Panama's total population is just under 4 million, only about 18 percent of Beijing's estimated 21.7 million inhabitants.

Volcan, at 1,400 meters above sea level but not far from the equator, has springtime temperatures year-round. Frequent rains turn the landscape intensely green most of the year.