19 TH CENTURY CHINESE IMMIGRATION TO AMERICA – PART II

Agriculture and food production The Chinese helped create the system of levees allowing for the development of agriculture in the Sacramento Valley The Chinese used their knowledge of flood control on the Pearl River to construct levees in the Sacramento River Delta

Locke is a town in the California’s Central Valley that was populated entirely by Chinese agricultural workers

The Bing Cherry is named after a 19 th century Chinese- American agricultural worker who may have been responsible for developing the cultivar (variety)

Fishing Industry – Chinese fishermen established the fishing industry in the Monterey Bay and San Francisco Bay Chinese Fishing Village in Pacific Grove on Monterey Bay

Fish were dried and exported to China, especially squid and octopus, which were unappealing to Americans

Many Chinese established laundries and opened restaurants The City of San Francisco passed a law making it difficult for Chinese to own and run laundries because white business owners did not like the competition

Most early restaurants served Chinese immigrants, today Chinese restaurants in the United States outnumber McDonald’s 3 to 1

Domestic work There was a shortage of women in the California so the Chinese men found a niche doing women’s work Laundry Restaurants chefs Child care Domestic servants