They’ve trudged over mountains, forded rivers in wooden canoes, then ridden buses the length of central America. For Chinese migrants on their zouxian journey, Mexico is the only thing separating them from their American dream.

Tapachula, in the country’s south, is their first port of call. This small city, just across the border from Guatemala, has become a hub for migrants on their journey north. 

But making it to Mexico’s northern border isn’t easy. Governments across the region are doing what they can to deter migrants from making it to the US. And that’s pushing migrants into the hands of criminal groups who rob and extort them.  

In the second episode of a four-part series, Alice Su, The Economist’s senior China correspondent, travels to Tapachula and sees the human cost of this game of snakes and ladders. How will the migrants she’s met survive the maze that is Mexico?

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