Chinese cigarettes and Bolivian beer: the Amazonian town transformed by a rampant mining boom

Mayaya, once-remote, has become a hub for Chinese companies. But critics accuse them of exploitation and illegal exports

The pork belly hits the oil with a sizzle, and a rich aroma of soy sauce and caramelising sugar fills the kitchen. Zhang Changchun, a middle-aged man from China’s Heilongjiang province, is cooking dinner for his friends on a warm evening in Mayaya, a small town in the Bolivian Amazon.

“Bolivia is my happy place,” he says in Mandarin as he adds the dish to a table overflowing with pork trotters, duck wings and braised sábalo fish. In this small restaurant, a group of half a dozen Chinese men gathers most nights to eat, drink and play mahjong.