By 1869 there were about 2,000 Chinese people in New Zealand. Almost all were men who came to work the goldfields of Otago and the West Coast. Most of them probably intended to make their fortunes and return to China. An 1871 report dismissed popular allegations against the Chinese, but pressure mounted to exclude further arrivals. Formal restrictions on Chinese immigrants were imposed in 1881. On the goldfields, the Chinese mostly kept to themselves, living in small ‘Chinatowns’. Some ran their own businesses rather than searching for gold. A Chinese man ran this hotel at Round Hill in Southland.
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Southland Museum and Art Gallery
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