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Victoria Chinatown Celebrated

Posted by Daniel on Feb 7, 2013

Today the Royal BC Museum in Victoria launches an exhibit celebrating 155 years of the city's Chinatown.

The oldest surviving Chinatown in Canada, it dates back to 1858 and the gold rush that convulsed the colony. In June of that year The Victoria Gazette newspaper reported the arrival of "a batch of celestials" from San Francisco, probably the first Chinese immigrants to Canada. Most of these newcomers moved on to the gold fields up the Fraser River but a few set up shop in Victoria, forming the nucleus of what became a burgeoning Chinatown.

The museum exhibition focuses particularly on the period 1930-1950 using video interviews with several community elders. It will continue all summer.

Labels: CHINATOWN, GOLD RUSH, VICTORIA
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