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Shaded by trees, the small green park in the centre of Santa Ana - a busy transport hub - offers an island of tranquillity from the swirling traffic. A few blocks to the west, under the shadow of Cerro Ancon, is the poor barrio of El Chorillo , which was devastated during the US invasion, leaving hundreds dead and thousands homeless. It has since been rebuilt, but the concrete tenements that replaced the old wooden slum housing are already run-down and it remains a dangerous neighbourhood even during the day. Just beyond Parque Santa Ana on Av Central a right turn takes you down Calle Sal si Puedes ("get out if you can"), a steep, narrow street crammed with market stalls that runs two blocks down to the seafront and the covered Mercado Central , the lively food market. Beside the market to the southeast is the Muelle Fiscal , from where occasional boats to Darien and Colombia leave. The area between the market and Av B is known as the barrio Chino (Chinatown), the historic centre of Panama City's large Chinese population, which began to arrive in the middle of the nineteenth century to work on the railway. The Chinese community is much more dispersed now, but the barrio retains a distinct oriental feel: there are Chinese supermarkets selling everything from dried shark fins to newspapers; restaurants where it is difficult to order unless you speak Cantonese; and, at the north end of C Juan Mendoza, an ornate gate that marks the official entrance to the barrio from Av Balboa. The pedestrianized stretch of Avenida Central from Parque Santa Ana north as far as Plaza Cinco de Mayo is the liveliest and most popular shopping district in the city. Blasts of air conditioning and loud music pour from the huge superstores that line the avenue selling cheap clothing, electronics and household goods, as hawkers with megaphones attempt to entice shoppers inside. Nowhere is the sheer energy of the city and the enormous cultural diversity of its population more evident: stop for a while on one of the tree-shaded mosaic benches and you will see Hindus in saris, Kuna women in their traditional costumes, bearded Muslims in robes and skullcaps, interioranos in sombreros, Chinese, Afro-Antillanos and Latinos, all scrambling for bargains in the supercharged atmosphere of this post-modern bazaar.
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