Aussie Cyn: Arrowtown Chinese Settlement

Kia ora!

One last adventure from Qtown. I took a bus ($17 day pass) to The Remarkables Shopping Center and then to Arrowtown. Not too much remarkable about the shopping center. But Arrowtown was interesting. It's an historic gold rush town noted for its restored Chinese Settlement.

Between the late 1860s and the 1880s approximately 8000 Chinese men, primarily from Canton/Quongdong (where my ancestors are from) province, came to the Otago Southland and West Coast regions of New Zealand to seek their fortunes in gold.

By 1865, the initial gold rush in the Otago province was over and the European miners were moving to the new West Coast goldfields. The Otago Councilmen decided to recruit Chinese miners from the Australian goldfields to prevent their towns from dying out.

Inside Ah Lum's Store

Initially, the Chinese were well received. But by the 1870s, Chinese men represented 17% of the Otago Southland goldfield population, 40% of its miners and

produced 30% of its gold. As the Chinese
community and commercial interests grew, so did resentment. While the Chinese in Arrowtown escaped physical violence, they did endure verbal abuse led by racist newspaper articles and discriminatory legislation.

By 1890, Otago's easily worked gold was played out and most of the Chinese moved on, most returning to China. Some remained and found other work, particularly market gardening. As the competitive environment eased, harassment also lessened. They are remembered as "honest, hard working and kindly people." Some of the initial immigrants married European wives and their families integrated successfully into New Zealand society.

Ah Lum's Store/bank/lodging/gathering place

Similar to America and Australia, New Zealand government efforts to restrict Chinese immigration continued well past World Was II. New Zealand opened its doors more widely to Chinese immigration in the 1980s.

2 homes built into mountainside. Center: storage hut.

I enjoyed seeing the restored Chinese Settlement. I know Chinese, particularly Southern Chinese, are short but these buildings were ridiculous! They must've only been able to stand up straight in the center, if that.

Ah Lum spoke English and served as interpreter and scribe. Also known as Lau Lei, he and his store lived until 1925 and were the heart of the Chinese community. Ah Sing's store was the largest building in the Settlement and was his home, store, restaurant, boarding house and social center.

Having grown up in San Francisco's Chinatown, I've seen Chinese frugality in action. I remember Gramps' tiny room with the toilet and bath tub down the hall and stove/oven, refrigerator, and table/4 chairs in the shared kitchen. Granma's place on Stockton Street wasn't much bigger. Hey! They had private rooms in a hostel! But they lived like that for decades. Less than 1 year is enough for me.