The Chinese in Britain: personal tales of a journey to a new land
Today, 400,000 ethnic Chinese call Britain home. But their 325-year history of labour contributions to the UK, from being 17th-century seamen to establishing London's now-famous Soho Chinatown, have often gone undocumented and unnoticed. Some of their stories are below ...
In 1685, Jesuit priest Michael Alphonsius Shen Fu-tsung became the first Chinese person on record to visit Britain. While he was in the country, he went to work cataloguing Chinese-language books for the Bodleian Library, in Oxford.
Since then, hundreds of thousands of Chinese sailors, chefs, students, doctors, laundrymen (and women), artisans and others have contributed much to British society, although this has gone largely undocumented.
Today, about 400,000 ethnic Chinese call Britain home and their cultural influence is everywhere, from menus featuring chicken chow mein and sweet and sour pork dishes to the consumption of herbal teas and the use of loan words such as "ketchup" (literally "tomato sauce") and "chop chop". Long time no see? That's Chinese syntax.
As stories emerge (some of which follow), this marvellous resource promises to redefine both other people's understanding of the Chinese diaspora and that community's perception of itself.
SEAFARING In the 19th century, Chinese seamen were employed in the tea trade on East India Company ships and, at the turn of the 20th century, by the "Shell" Transport and Trading Company, later part of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. They were seen as more hardworking than their European counterparts and likely to drink and eat less (they were paid less, too). After the decline in merchant shipping following the second world war, many found work on land.