Photo Report: One of the approximately 200 builders from China brought over to San José's La Sabana Park to build for Costa Rica what's being billed to be the “best stadium in Central America.” Click on the image for a photo report of scenes from life at the stadium construction site.

Nick Coté | Tico Times

They eat Chinese rice, they watch Chinese news, and they all can be found at one of two places – their new living quarters or the stadium construction site on the western end of San José's La Sabana Park.

“They” are the approximately 200 workers shipped from China and expected to build for Costa Rica the “best stadium in Central America ” within two years. The construction area, hidden behind a black fence, is a sea of dark-pink coveralls. On the edge of this Spanish-speaking city, flurries of Chinese words are thrown back and forth.

The exception is a lone Tico welder, Warner Leiva, who has been working there for several weeks. Leiva, 22, acknowledges there are communication difficulties, but he forges ahead the best he can.

“To communicate, we usually just use hand signs,” said Leiva, “but in case I need something important, like new gloves because mine have holes, I need to have someone translate.”

His direct supervisor, Wang Baoying, said he doesn't consider the language barrier a problem.

“We are both professionals in our field of work, and that in itself is enough of a universal language,” he said.

Work on the stadium is non-stop, with day and night shifts of approximately eight hours each. According to Daniel Song, chief translator for the project, workers are willing to toil extra hours to finish the project early, head back home and enjoy time off there.

“If we finish in 22 months instead of 24, we'll have two months, with pay, to relax in China,” he said. “That's why people want to do these foreign jobs.”

Engineer Wei Dong Zhang, who has worked in many different countries, said all his experiences have been similar to the one in Costa Rica.

“We work there (in other countries), but we don't actually live there,” Wei Dong said.

The project office, littered with hard hats and computers, is a cornucopia of vibrant Chinese characters and symbols.

“I have been learning a few Spanish words that Daniel (Song) has put together for us,” said Wei Dong, pointing to a chart of Chinese and Spanish words and pronunciations on the computer. “But really, it's most likely I'll never use them.”

Unlike Song, who uses a Western first name, neither Wei Dong nor his co-worker Haitad Zen wants to use a different name while residing here.

While most of his co-workers want to wrap up the project and return home as soon as possible, Song yearns for time off here to take advantage of his Spanish skills and explore Costa Rica.

However, as the project's main translator, he said he usually must be on call seven days a week. He said by the time he returns to his living quarters in the workers' dwelling, located in western San José's Barrio Don Bosco, he's usually too tired to venture out into the city.

This slice of the barrio has become a veritable Chinatown – if just temporarily – which a year ago was home to La Turcios sports field. Today it's dotted with identical living quarters, washbasins and abundant radish gardens outside each bedroom door.

When day shift workers return to their quarters in the evenings, the atmosphere is somewhat subdued. After feasting on their traditional fare of rice, vegetables, meatballs and tofu, some workers watch Chinese news on a big screen television, others head to bed for the night and some use Internet or make phone calls to loved ones in China.

“Most of these men have families back home they won't see until the stadium is done,” said Rosi Wang, another translator and the only female living there. “So it's really important they have a way to keep in touch.”

The phone calls cost $10 for 180 minutes, which the workers said is reasonable considering their pay of between $800 and $900 a month. However, the bulk of that goes directly to China, and workers here receive ¢30,000 (about $52) a month while in Costa Rica. Room and board and medical care are paid for by the Chinese construction company. The allowance may seem a pittance, but according to Song it goes a long way “because no one goes out anyway.”

For Song, however, spending the whole week working in this virtual Chinese microcosm is not what he had in mind.

“It's fine,” he said, “it's just not what I expected… and was hoping for.”