The
discovery of gold in the Fraser Canyon in 1858 led to a sudden surge in immigration to
British Columbia from California, about one third of which was Chinese. Within a year, immigration to the colony directly from China began as news spread of the gold find, but the
gold rush was only one reason many Chinese citizens immigrated.
Famine,
drought or
war in their homeland also encouraged the voyage across the
Pacific Ocean to Victoria (on the Crown
Colony of Vancouver Island en route to the
Fraser Canyon, and later to
Barkerville and
the mainland's many other goldfields). The majority of the population was from South
China, in
Guangdong province. Later, the construction of the
Canadian Pacific Railway would continue to bring Chinese workers. was erected in the 1980s, as a part of a larger revitalization effort. Initially a collection of crude wooden huts, Victoria's Chinatown rapidly evolved into a dense neighborhood of businesses, movie theaters, schools, churches, temples, and a hospital. It did gain a dark, seedy reputation however, because of opium factories, gambling dens, and brothels. Chinatown grew steadily over the years until its peak in 1911, when it occupied an area of about six city blocks in the north end of downtown Victoria. This area included two blocks of Herald Street, two blocks of Fisgard Street, and two blocks of old Cormorant Street. The block between Store Street and Government Street has since been renamed Pandora Avenue, and the block between Government Street and Douglas Street is now part of
Centennial Square. In 1911, Victoria's Chinatown housed 3,158 people, From the late nineteenth century to the first decade of the twentieth century, it was the largest Chinese settlement in
Canada. Victoria's Chinatown suffered a period of decline between the 1920s and the 1970s, shrinking dramatically both in size and in population. In the 1980s, significant revitalization efforts were undertaken, most notably the construction of the
Gate of Harmonious Interest on Fisgard Street (at Government Street). Ongoing revitalization over the years has included the introduction of coffee shops, cafes, studios, and workshops, as well as a small condominium development in Dragon Alley. ==Today's Chinatown==