Mercantile Mobility: Chinese Merchants in Western Canada

This exhibition catalogue traces a group of dynamic Chinese merchants and their business activities in big cities and small towns in Western Canada after they arrived from China, covering the mid-nineteenth century into the millennium. Their movements are illustrated on various maps and chronicled in many written accounts. By managing the flow of people, products, and money at the municipal, provincial, and global levels, these individuals added to the growth of the Canadian economy. Over a span of two years, curator Helen Kwan Yee Cheung met with these merchant families to record their migration footprints and eventual settlement. The catalogue features rare archival materials and valuable memorabilia, collected over a period of ten years, many of which were donated by the families featured in this publication. Through these efforts, she captures the heritage of Chinese merchants in Western Canada and fills a missing page in the region’s history.