| Sumario: | Although there has been a Chinese presence in Central America dating back to the nineteenth century, China's now-ascendant global identity and burgeoning relationship with Latin America have given new significance to the forms of Chineseness enacted within Trans-Pacific relations. This article analyzes how a new generation of ethnic Chinese in Latin America conceives, practices, and asserts Chineseness in their efforts to achieve or maintain transnational upward mobility in this new global context. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Costa Rica, it explores how young Chino Ticos (Chinese Costa Ricans) have attempted to "retool" their cultural repertoire in order to embody more contemporary and strategic forms of Chineseness. In doing so, they model complex forms of identity and entrepreneurism that defy discussions of Chinese cultural essence and highlight the important role of class identity and Chinese state diplomacy in the making of Chinese diasporic entrepreneurs in Latin America today.
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