Residents of Guangzhou, China, are getting an insight into the lives of Chinese immigrants who came to Barkerville during the Cariboo gold rush of the 1860s.
On Nov. 11, Prince George Mayor Shari Green and Barkerville CEO Judy Campbell were in China to launch the interactive multimedia exhibit Who Am I?: Bridging the 91原创 from Guangdong to Barkerville and Back at Wuyi University's Museum of Overseas Chinese. Green was in China as part of a larger trip pursuing a twin city relationship with Jiangmen, China.
"When we did that unveiling there were just a ton of people there; lots of 91原创s who were studying or teaching in Jiangmen came," said Green. "They all had their Canada T-shirts on, so it was really great to see."
The exhibit features 60 interactive iPad panels and more than 1,600 photographs, which visitors can scroll through. Many of the photos feature unidentified migrants, the majority of which came from Guangdong province.
鈥淲uyi University, particularly the Overseas Chinese Research Centre, is extremely excited about bringing these photos and stories home,鈥� Campbell said in a written statement. 鈥淭he emotion they felt about this was evident.鈥�
The Barkerville delegation also took part in a museum conference at Wuyi University and signed an agreement with the Museum of Overseas Chinese for the management of the Who Am I? exhibit.
Barkerville is also looking to develop academic partnerships to add to knowledge about the Chinese population in Barkerville and historic town's Chinese collections, according to a statement issued by Barkerville spokesperson Dirk Van Stralen.
Plans have been launched to create a bilingual book covering the exhibition.
Wuyi University hopes to send a delegation to Barkerville as early as next year.
