CATAG
Chinese at the Australian goldfields
How did they come?
So that they had the money to pay for the fare to Australia, a man would take a loan from a local trader, agreeing to make regular repayments. His wife and children would stay behind, and worked for the trader if the man couldn't repay the money he had borrowed. To reach Melbourne, it was a journey of several months by ship in cramped conditions.
The Chinese weren't treated well, why?
The Chinese seemed very strange and different to the European diggers. The people at the diggings were suspicious of them and angry of their methods of mining . The appearance of the Chinese, with their pigtails and unfamiliar clothes, their habit of going barefoot and of carrying loads balanced from two bamboo poles, their religion, all made them the target of a great deal of racism. The Chinese were generally very hardworking and honest, and were quiet and law abiding.
Quick fact
Australia first became multi-cultural during the gold rush period because of the immigration to Australia.
What did the chinese eat and wear?
The chinese people ate alot of rice cabbages,chicken noodle soup,bean sprouts and they also drank alot of tea.
For the chinese peoples clothes they wore baggy trouses, large coolie hats so they can be protected from the sun and they also had pigtales.
Why did they come?
When China heard about the Australian gold rush in 1853 the people had been suffering from years of war and famine. Recently California had a gold rush, Jin Shan ("Gold Mountain"), is what the Chinese called California. However, many returned home with only a little bit more than what they had started with. When they heard about the Australian gold rush they thought it was like another chance to find gold. The Chinese called Australia Xin Jin Shan (New Gold Mountain).
Quick fact
The chinese houses where made out of sticks, bark and slit.
Quick fact
The number of chinese people that came to Australia in the 1800s is believed to be about 7000 in just the Araluen gold fields in NSW.
The Europeans tried to limit the number of Chinese
In attempt to limit the number of Chinese at the goldfields, a law was sent out in 1885 that any Chinese person that entered Victoria would have to pay ten pounds tax, and one pound for a protection fee, the right to mine and live in the colony. No one entering Victoria from any other country had to pay that tax. However, the law did not reduce the number of Chinese. They landed in South Australia and walked several hundred kilometres to reach the Victorian goldfields.
Quick fact
Then they didn't have toilets so the Chinese had to dig pits to go to the toilet.
Quick fact
The people would get up early to walk to the gold fields and mine as much as possible.
the chinese would go shopping when they needed the supplies, the food or the equipment for mining or panning.