Recognizing Nanaimo’s Four Former Chinatowns
Recognizing Nanaimo’s Four Former Chinatowns
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Nanaimo was once home to four vibrant Chinatowns, all of which have since disappeared due to discrimination, internal class displacement, fire, and assimilation. The third and largest Chinatown was destroyed by a massive fire in 1960, and the city subsequently removed most of what remained. Today, the City of Nanaimo recognizes the first Chinatown with the 華夏街 China Steps and an interpretive sign, but there is no physical trace or commemoration of the other three Chinatowns, as if they never existed.
In response, building on existing foundational work by community members and scholars, the Foundation for Chinatown Dignity has taken grassroots action, partnering with local organizations to physically and visibly recognize Nanaimo’s lost Chinatowns and restore their stories to public memory.
Site of Nanaimo's Former Third Chinatown. Photo: Yao Xiao, 2025
China Steps. Photo: Yao Xiao, 2025
Historical Context
Nanaimo’s four Chinatowns were once vibrant centres of Chinese diasporic life. Yet, systemic racism, economic and class displacement within the community, devastating fires, and pressures to assimilate led to their destruction and erasure. The largest Chinatown, destroyed in a 1960 fire, was followed by municipal removal of most of the remaining buildings, leaving little to no physical evidence.
While the City commemorates the first Chinatown with the 華夏街 China Steps and an interpretive sign, the other Chinatown sites lack markers or public acknowledgment, effectively erasing much of the history and presence of Chinese diaspora in the city. This invisibility in public space reflects broader colonial patterns of marginalization and exclusion of racialized communities from official histories.
Nanaimo’s Chinese diaspsoric history is complex. For instance, Mah Bing Kee, an early and wealthy Chinese merchant, controversially bought land that led to the displacement of the second Chinatown’s residents. This sparked the creation of the cooperative, 聯益公司 Lund Yick Lands Co., and the community subsequently relocated their homes and businesses in protest. While Mah Bing Kee is publicly recognized as an early pioneer, the story of intra-community conflict and resistance remains lesser known.
The Problem
Despite rich histories and existing archival research, most of Nanaimo’s lost Chinatowns suffer from a lack of visible public commemoration and education. The City’s none to minimal recognition offers only temporary initiatives without urgency or permanence. Further, the stories of resistance, resilience, and class struggle are often overlooked or simplified, leaving the community’s heritage vulnerable to further erasure.
Existing archival materials and oral histories remain under-analyzed through anti-oppressive lenses and are rarely translated into accessible, engaging public education tools at the very sites where these histories unfolded.
Our Approach
The Foundation for Chinatown Dignity adopted a grassroots strategy, building partnerships with organizations located at the historical Chinatown sites.
We are currently collaborating with SEED Co-op that operates the Bing Kee Food Forest on the site of the second Chinatown, and the Nanaimo Innovation Academy, located near the third and fourth Chinatowns.
Our research draws on archival records, oral histories, and community knowledge, but focuses on critically analyzing these sources through an anti-oppressive lens to present narratives that centre Chinese diasporic experiences and histories.
Key Findings
Our work seek to highlight the complex histories behind Nanaimo’s Chinatowns, surfacing stories often missing from public memory, particularly class conflict and community resilience in the face of lateral violence within the community.
For example, SEED Co-op, which operates the Bing Kee Food Forest on the site of Nanaimo’s second Chinatown. This land was historically significant not only for its early Chinese settlement, but also for the internal conflict that emerged around land ownership and class divisions. The street “Bing Kee” was named after Mah Bing Kee, a wealthy Chinese merchant who, along with his business partner Ching Chung Yung, secretly purchased the land from a coal company. This triggered a community revolt, where Chinese residents formed the 聯益公司 Lund Yick Lands Co-operative in protest, relocated their buildings down the road to Pine and Hecate Streets, and built a new Chinatown.
While Mah Bing Kee is publicly remembered as a pioneering figure, this project seeks to tell a more nuanced story that includes the intra-community exploitation and collective resistance that shaped the landscape the evolution of Nanaimo's Chinatowns. In the spirit of co-operatives, we are working with SEED Co-op to restore the name 聯益公司 Lund Yick Lands Co. on site signage that reframe the area’s history through the lens of class struggle, solidarity, and Chinese self-determination.
Our initiatives demonstrate the power of history told from the perspective of the oppressed to challenge simplified, colonial narratives and restore dignity and visibility to lost spaces and stories.
Outcomes & Impact
We are working with community partners to implement physical commemorations through interpretive signage and educational materials. These efforts create visible markers of Chinese diasporic heritage in places where it was previously invisible.
We collaborated with SEED Co-op, operators of the Bing Kee Food Forest on the site of the second Chinatown. We developed interpretive signage that highlights the history of the second Chinatown through themes of class oppression and community resistance.
We also partnered with the Nanaimo Innovation Academy, located near the third and fourth Chinatowns. There, we created a family-friendly zine about Nanaimo’s lost Chinatowns to be distributed to students and families and stocked in the academy’s small library, fostering community education and connection to local history. The zine contains a mini dictionary of terms and words in English and Chinese with Toisan, Cantonese and Mandarin pronunciations to honour the Toisan heritage of the early Chinese migrants in Nanaimo.
An excerpt of the zine about Nanaimo's Four Lost Chinatowns. Foundation for Chinese Dignity.
We welcome you to download, print and distribute the zine for educational purposes. The zine is best printed on legal (8.5" x 14") paper. Instructions on how to assemble to zine can be viewed here.
Interpretive signage at the Bing Kee Food Forest, located at Nanaimo's former second Chinatown, stewarded by SEED Co-op
What’s Next
Our next steps include expanding these partnerships to develop living gardens of Chinese edible plants and herbs at the historic Chinatown sites. These gardens will serve as living memorials and educational spaces that nourish cultural memory and community connection.
We also plan to deepen public engagement through further educational materials and expanded signage. Our goal is to ensure Nanaimo’s lost Chinatowns are remembered not only as places of loss but also as sites of resilience and resistance.
Zine about Nanaimo's Four Lost Chinatowns at the Nanaimo Innovation Academy's little chidren's library.
Partners & Acknowledgements
We extend our sincere thanks to Michael Geselbracht of SEED Co-op and Keely Freeman of the Nanaimo Innovation Academy, as well as community members who generously contributed space and support.
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