General Information
Chinese immigrants to the United Kingdom began long ago. According to Familysearch.org and Ancestry.com, the first Chinese person to immigrate to Britain now seems to be Richard Lynn (林). Since the late 19th Century more Chinese immigrants have arrived from different geographical origins, noticeably Mainland China, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia and Taiwan. According to sources, currently there are about 600,000 ethnic-Chinese UK citizens, in addition to 410,000 Chinese nationals living/studying in the UK (220,000 of these are students). The largest Chinese community in the UK is in London.
Chinese in London Borough of Newham
East London has a long tradition as a settlement destination for immigrants from overseas. Information available online shows there are about 6,000 ethnic Chinese residents living in LB Newham. Chinese people in Newham engage mostly in catering sectors and food service businesses. In 1941, a Mr Chan opened the borough’s first Chinese restaurant in Manor Park, serving Chop Suey dishes to local customers. The Chinese Overseas on Stratford High Street is also one of the oldest Chinese eateries in Newham. In more recent times, a young ethnic Chinese refugee from Vietnam, together with his compatriots, opened the Yiban near the dockside, which has now become one of the most popular Chinese restaurants in the capital.
Chinese Fortunes Oral History project
The Chinese community may not be the biggest minority ethnic group in the UK, it does have a long history of presence in the increasingly multi-cultural Britain. Like people from other ethnic groups, the Chinese have a rich culture with illustrious customs and traditions. How to preserve the cultural heritage for future generations has for a long time been in the minds of the older generation. In 2019, supported by Heritage Fund and National Lottery players, the Newham Chinese Association (NCA) started an oral history project entitled Chinese Fortunes to recover and document stories told by older Chinese residents. The aim is to create a small collection of archives in a bid to generate heritage interest amongst young people, as well as to serve as reference for the general public at large.
Data Collection
A total of 21 local Chinese people (most were NCA members), were interviewed for their stories in this project, excluding one person interviewed for the pilot study. The main interview sample was selected and selection was based on people who were living or working in Newham and were willing to share their stories. Roughly one third of the interviews were male, the rest were female. Average age of the sample is 71. Ten interviews done in English were carried out by NCA’s partner organization for the project, the Eastside Community Heritage (ECH). The remaining interviews were done in Cantonese by NCA staff, with assistance by volunteers. Transcription and translation was done by staff, also with assistance by volunteers recruited from local universities.
Outputs
Project outputs include four video clips on:
- Chinese Migration from East to West
- Chinese Food and its regional favours
- The tale of a Chinese Restaurant in Newham
- Healthy Chinese Food Cooking demonstration
The last of these videos was made from a live stream session of cooking demonstration by the award winning chef Mr Yang. A booklet of nine selected and shortened stories was made available in print and nine exhibition stands were made for exhibition at local libraries. A total of nine reminiscence workshops were held at St Mark’s Community Centre and some other venues. A total of eight workshops were held at local primary schools for children on Chinese culture and heritage. A team of volunteers took part in various training on heritage, video editing and other relevant techniques.