B.C. Chinese bunk house last in Pacific Northwest
CBC News | Posted: October 7, 2013 1:33 PM | Last Updated: October 7, 2013
Bunk house was originally located in Knight's Inlet
The only surviving Chinese bunk house on the west coast, which was once occupied by dozens of Chinese cannery workers a century ago, has now become a historical exhibit in Richmond, B.C.
The exhibit is part of the Britannia Shipyard National Historic Site. The Early Edition tagged along with a group of Chinese-Canadian families as they visited the restored bunk house and listened to guide Kimberly Baker.
The bunk house, originally located in Knight Inlet, was home to 75 to 100 Chinese cannery workers who were employed through Chinese contractors to work a variety of jobs on the canning line.
Visitors watch a documentary about Chinese cannery workers in the bunk house.
Bob Sung, a Vancouver born Chinese Canadian, measures the length of a bunk bed while looking at a hat, an opium pipe and other artifacts left by early Chinese workers.
The Britannia Shipyard National Historic Site is located in Steveston, Richmond at 5180 Westwater Drive.
It is open Saturdays 10:00 a.m. PT to 4:00 p.m. and Sundays 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.