The UK Chinese Community

This subject is more complex than its simple title would suggest. The Chinese community comprises a variety of people from different places who came to the UK at different times, for different reasons, from different backgrounds and with different standards of education.

Early Arrivals

The first Chinese settlers were mainly Cantonese from south China although there were some from Shanghai. Many were seamen who had sailed out of Chinese ports such as Hong Kong and Shanghai on British ships and stayed whilst others came as passengers. The ships belonging to Alfred Holt and Company based at Liverpool, better known as the Blue Funnel Line, had a technical advantage over their competitors until the opening of the Suez Canal. They settled in seaports, notably Liverpool, London and Cardiff in the early 1900s. Indeed Liverpool claims to have the oldest Chinatown in Europe.

Many of the arrivals in the early 1900s were from the 'four counties' (See Yep 四邑) area of southern Guangdong province, especially the county of Toisan (台山) . Chinese from Guangdong province are of course Cantonese speaking, but there are many sub-dialects of Cantonese. Native Hong Kong Chinese speak a different dialect of Cantonese from those from the See Yep counties. In addition some UK Chinese speak the Hakka dialect.

Chinese Seamen in World War 2

During the Second World War, as many as 20,000 thousand Chinese seamen were stationed in Liverpool. Many were from Shanghai, others were Cantonese. They served in the British merchant navy and many lost their lives during the conflict. Their rates of pay were a third of that paid to British seamen. At the end of the war, as many as 1,362 were forcibly repatriated.

The 'Second Wave'

The overall population of permanent Chinese residents in the UK did not change substantially until after the Second World War. It is believed that the Liverpool Chinese community until the late 1940s largely consisted of about 70 families who all knew each other - or knew of each other. The UK Chinese community continued to operate laundries until the early 1950s and then the world began to change. The advent of synthetic fibres, launderettes and home washing machines effectively killed off the laundries and many families opened restaurants and take away food shops.

The popularity and rapid growth of Chinese restaurants led to staff vacancies that were filled by Hong Kong Chinese many of whom came specifically for this purpose. This coincided with problems in farming, especially in the New Territories of Hong Kong and also the uncertain political situation in Asia. Many Chinese wanted to leave Hong Kong for better security. The Hong Kong Chinese began to come in large numbers during the early 1960s. Until the late 1960s, there were only two Chinatowns in the UK, in London and in Liverpool. Surveys show that by 1985, 90% of the UK Chinese community was engaged in the catering industry.

The 'Third Wave'

From 1980 onward, following the end of the Cultural Revolution and the opening up of China by Deng Xiaoping, professional people, students, university lecturers and doctors have come to the UK from the Chinese mainland. Chinese from different origins do not socialise together as much as might be expected. Hong Kong Chinese are Cantonese speakers, whilst mainlanders speak Mandarin and this does not help.

Some of the newest arrivals from China in the 21st century are from Fujian province and their native dialect is Hokkien which is very different from Cantonese, but being from the Chinese mainland, they can also speak Mandarin.

The composition of the UK Chinese Community of 2008 is therefore very different from 1980. Until about 1990, the Mandarin dialect of Chinese was hardly heard in the UK. Most people thought that Cantonese Chinese was Chinese. In 2008, Mandarin is heard as much as Cantonese in the streets of say, London or Manchester even though most of the catering businesses are still run by the Cantonese.

The number of Chinese students grew quite substantially during the early part of the 21st Century. Chinese students value their education in British universities and also their time spent in the UK. In addition to university students there are large numbers of Chinese children at British public schools. Some public schools are only economically viable because of the Chinese children.