 The first Chinese immigrants to Seychelles arrived 
from Mauritius in 1886.Until around 1940, it was common for a Sino-Mauritian to bring his relatives over from China to Mauritius for a period of apprenticeship in his business; after they had gained sufficient familiarity with commercial practises and life in a colonial society, he would send them onwards with letters of introduction, lending them his own capital to start up businesses in neighbouring regions, including Seychelles.Like in other overseas Chinese communities, rivalry between Cantonese- and Hakka-speakers was a common feature of their social life.