Chinese
There have been Chinese living in the Manchester area since 1851. The Manchester Chinese Community Archive documents the history of the Chinese in Manchester since the 19th century.
We have also been working on a project with pupils from Manchester Grammar School. They have been using trade directories and census returns to trace the history of Chinese businesses in the Manchester area. The earliest listed Chinese business we have discovered is in a 1907 Manchester directory. The results of this project can be found on Google Maps.
The following are available in the Manchester Room@City Library:
- Wah, Yung Yung, 'British Soil Chinese Roots: Chinese Life in Britain' (1996) is based on a photographic study of the Chinese community in Greater Manchester. It contains information on the Chinese community living and working in Manchester.
- Woon Cheng, 'Needs of Young Chinese Women in Greater Manchester' (1996).
- Helen Tse 'Sweet Mandarin' (2007) tells the story of her grandmother Lily Kwok, who came to the UK from Hong Kong in the 1950s, and opened one of Manchester's earliest Chinese restaurants. It gives a personal account of some of the experiences of the Chinese community in Manchester from the late 1950s to the present day.
- Y. Liao 'The Geography of the Chinese Catering Trade in Greater Manchester', (Manchester Geographer, vol. 14, 1993, pp 54-82, 910.6 M1).
Reference to the Chinese is also made in the Manchester Evening Chronicle 1958 series 'Strangers in our Midst'.
Manchester Archives Flickr photostream
The photographs above can also be viewed directly on the Flickr site where you will find many more sets on Manchester Archives Flickr photostream.