Chinese Community
China is the world's most populous country, with a continuous culture stretching back nearly 4,000 years. Many essential inventions originated in China, including paper, gunpowder, and the compass. There have been trade routes between Britain and China for hundreds of years. The first Chinese settlers in Britain were sailors who arrived in the late 18th century on East India Company ships.
By the middle of the 18th century, tea had become hugely popular in Britain, this was largely imported from China. However, China did not have the same demand for British goods so the British East India Company began shipping huge amounts of opium illegally into Chinese ports; this was used to trade for Chinese manufactured goods and for tea. The illicit trade of opium by Britain into China was strongly opposed by the Chinese government and led to the Opium wars. China was defeated in both these wars and in 1842 signed a treaty which allowed the British to lease Hong Kong for 155 years and to exclusively trade from five Chinese ports.
By the late 19th century, the majority of Chinese living in Britain came from British controlled Hong Kong and worked in arduous jobs such as catering and laundries where they provided cheap labour. Many Chinese settlers only intended to stay in Britain temporarily; they spoke little or no English which meant they had difficulty communicating with other groups. For this reason, the Chinese community was generally regarded as introverted.
The mass production of automatic washing machines led to the closure of many Chinese laundries in the 1950s. However during the 1960s Chinese food became very popular in Britain and there was a dramatic rise in the number of Chinese families coming to Britain to set up Chinese restaurants. Education is greatly valued by Chinese and while many of the elder Chinese community continue to work in catering, the younger community are the highest educational achievers of all minority ethnic groups. Many British Chinese people work in professions such as law, accountancy and medicine.
The Chinese community have become well established in Britain and in Hertfordshire. Almost every village has a Chinese restaurant. Chinese martial arts and Tai Chi are popular sporting activities. There are thriving Chinese language schools in Dacorum, Stevenage and Watford. Chinese culture has also become mainstream with celebrations such as Chinese New Year, the Dragon boat festival and the Moon festival being recognised and celebrated by the wider community. Traditional Chinese Medicine such as acupuncture, massage and Chinese herbalism is also becoming increasingly popular and there are a number of Chinese practitioners in the county. Today there are over 5000 Chinese people living across Hertfordshire.
