Many Chinese people immigrated to Canada during the nineteenth century to escape famine and anarchy. By 1900, despite the productivity of Chinese labour and business, many whites saw a threat to economic stability and racial purity. The 1923 Exclusion Act put a near total stop to Chinese immigration until 1947. Archival photos show Chinese workers and communities of the era.

Two families, the Changs and the Lims, tell the story of the Chinese community in Vancouver from widely different perspectives. Chang Yun Ho arrived in Canada in 1908. His generation never integrated into the Canadian mainstream, partly because of the passage of the Asiatic Exclusion Act that fostered racism. By contrast, Liz and Herb Lim were born in Canada and grew up in Chinatown. They now live in the suburbs, totally acculturated to Canadian ways.