Slideshow

[chinatown][slideshow]

New Zealand Chinatown

There is an overall strong Southeast Asian presence in many of the country's urban areas. Many Taiwanese and Cantonese settlers from Hong Kong also live permanently in New Zealand, and in recent years New Zealand universities have been attractive to overseas students from Southeast Asia. Chinatowns existed on Greys Avenue in Auckland and Haining Street in Wellington up until the 1970s, and there is a growing community in both Christchurch and Dunedin.The first early Chinese immigrants to New Zealand are Cantonese from Guangdong Province, and they went here for the Central Otago goldrush of 1861. The former Chinese gold-mining settlement near the present town of Lawrence is being restored as an open-air museum, as has a similar former settlement at Arrowtown. Because of this influx of Cantonese during the 1860s, there is a strong Chinese presence in Dunedin, which has the country's only traditional Chinese Garden. Recent mayor from 2004 to 2010, Peter Chin, is of Chinese descent. During the late 19th century and early 20th century, the area between Rattray Street and Stafford Street at the southern end of the city's CBD had the highest concentration of Chinese businesses in the country, notably Choie (Charles) Sew Hoy's importing company. A traditional Chinese garden is now a feature of the central city.Though Dunedin has no focused Chinatown area per se, a large proportion of the businesses in northern George Street cater specifically for the large Eastern and Southeast Asian community centred on this part of the city.Many Taiwanese and Cantonese settlers from Hong Kong also live permanently in New Zealand, and in recent years New Zealand universities have been attractive to overseas students from Southeast Asia. Other groups of Chinese travelled from South Korea, South Africa, Australia, Latin America, and other Pacific Islands. Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, and Filipino culture are also prevalent in New Zealand's Chinatowns, making them multi-Asian places.In 2002, the New Zealand Government made a public apology to the Chinese for the poll tax that had been levied on their forefathers a century ago Wikipedia