Among the early gold-panners were Chinese, mainly from villages in Guangdong and Fujian provinces in mainland China. Because they are near the coast, these regions were the first to receive news from overseas. Thus, most Chinese who went abroad in search of gold-or simply a new life-were from these two provinces.
淘金客中有華裔先民，他們多數來自中國廣東省及福建省的農村；因為近海之便，加上常常獲得外來消息之先，故此二省的居民放洋淘金或謀生者最眾。