Mexicali is unlike all other Mexican border cities – not least because of its large Chinese population, which seems to have specialised exclusively in setting up restaurants on almost every block of this prosperous and organised city, the northernmost in Latin America.

Take Rincón de Pachito. The name may conjure images of tacos, enchiladas and burritos, but this cavernous eatery – roughly the size of three tennis courts, and tiled in beige ceramic to the waist – is one of the best-known Chinese restaurants in the city.