We visited Arrowtown, an 1862 gold rush town, a short drive from Queenstown, New Zealand. Our walking tour included discussion of its gold mining history and the arrival of the first Chinese immigrants to New Zealand. By 1865 the first gold rush was over and many left for other goldfields. With fear of a collapsed NZ economy, Chinese miners were invited to New Zealand. The Chinese had hopes of making money and returning home. By 1871 the Chinese outnumbered the European miners on the goldfields.

Like other gold rushes around the world, many flock to an area, work hard, live in poor conditions and hope to strike it rich. Housing and working conditions varied for workers. The Chinese laborers were miners and builders of various places, homes and bridges within this town, though they lived in tiny, tin and adobe shacks compared to the Europeans who hired them. The town now has the restored remains of the Chinese settlement a distance away, as they were in the cold shadows of the mountains. On a couple of main streets are restored Victorian style houses and quaint shops; many parts of the town are now protected Heritage sites.