Early Chinese Canadian Experiences in British Columbia

Early Chinese Canadian Experiences in British Columbia

Work and Industry in BC

Look through the following selection of images and artifacts to find out more about Early Chinese Canadian working experiences.

Launching of the “North West America” at Nootka Sound, 1790.
Mining for gold by hand, ca. 1900.
Mud silk garment.
A man with a long beard stands beside three children, they are all wearing hats.
A set of Chinese weights.
Ticket for passage on the ship Maria.
Chinese servants of Government House, Victoria, ca. 1866–1870.
Chinese workers on the Canadian Pacific Railway, ca. 1884.
Teapot used by Chinese workers while building the Canadian Pacific Railway.
Canadian Pacific Railway Chinese labour camp at Kamloops, ca. 1886.
Chinese Head-Tax Certificate, 1911.
Tenants pose in the sitting room of a rooming house in Vancouver’s Chinatown ca. 1902.
Chinese workers canning salmon, ca. 1900.
Chinese workers soldering cans in a BC cannery, ca. 1913.
Chinatown – Cumberland, 1910.
A Chinese farm between Cook and Moss streets, Victoria, ca. 1895.
Peddler with a full load of produce.
Barrel drum.
Influential Chinese merchants, including Lim Bang, in front of the provincial legislative buildings, Victoria, ca. 1904.
Wing Tai and Co. delivery truck, Vancouver, ca. 1920.
Inside the Yee Lun Ark Kee store, owner Wah Quan poses with his two brothers, his daughter, Reta Der, and three employees. Victoria, ca. 1951.

Communities, Families and Daily Life

Look through the following selection of images and artifacts to find out more about communities and families, and what daily life was like for Chinese Canadians in the past.

Lee family, ca. 1903. (part 1 of 3 images)
Lee family, ca. 1911. (part 2 of 3 images)
Lee family, ca. 1920. (part 3 of 3 images)
A Chinese witness taking the 'chicken oath' before the judge and jury on a platform outside the New Westminster courthouse; October 26, 1902.
Chinese schoolchildren going to school, Victoria, BC, 1899.
First graduation class of the Chinese Public School, Chinatown, Victoria, 1915.
Chinese Sunday School Picnic, organized by a local Chinese Canadian church, Victoria, BC, ca. 1907.
Chinese actor from Vancouver’s Chinatown, ca. 1915.
Chinese Freemason ceremony mask.
A group of Chinese musical instruments.
Chinese musical instrument.
A parade in a BC Chinatown, ca. 1900.
Lion’s head.
Chinese Masonic procession at Yates and Douglas streets, ca. 1940.
Victoria Chinese Women’s Committee fundraising for war victims in China during the Sino-Japanese War, ca. 1938..
An Air Raid Precautions group receives training in Vancouver during World War II, ca. 1943.
Victory Loan promotion in Victoria’s Chinatown, ca. 1944.
Chinese float for V-J (Victory over Japan) Day, Victoria, ca. 1945.
Douglas Jung addressing Canadian Chinese in the Chinatown News, March 3, 1958.

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