Recognizing Nanaimo’s Four Former Chinatowns

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 occupying historical Chinatown sites.

We collaborated with SEED Co-op, operators of the Bing Kee Food Forest on the site of the second Chinatown. We worked to restore the Chinese and English name of the 聯益公司 Lund Yick Lands Co-op on signage and to develop interpretive panels highlighting 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.

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 uncovered the deep complexity behind Nanaimo’s Chinatowns, highlighting 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 have received the formal agreement from partnership organizations to begin implementing physical commemorations through interpretive signage and educational materials. These efforts create visible markers of Chinese diasporic heritage in places where it was previously invisible.

The partnerships have sparked new conversations within the community and with local institutions about the importance of acknowledging this history and embedding it in public spaces.

More broadly, our work challenges colonial erasures and advocates for more inclusive, truthful public histories that honour Chinese diasporic legacies.

An excerpt of the zine about Nanaimo's Four Lost Chinatowns. Foundation for Chinese Dignity.

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.

Bing Kee Food Forest sign with 聯益公司 Lund Yick Lands Co. in Chinese. Photo: Melody Ma, 2025

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. We also gratefully acknowledge Dr. Imogene Lim for her foundational scholarship, invaluable community knowledge, and ongoing advocacy in recognizing Nanaimo’s Chinatown, which underpins and inspires this work.

Google Sites

Report abuse