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Moving to Gold Mountain
My name is Ji Huang, which means "Organized Rich" in Chinese. I decided to move to America when people in my vilage told me that America was "like going to heaven", and that America was a "gold mountain". Due to the Chinese Exclusion Act, I couldn't go earlier, even when my family needed money, but now my family is too poor and we could be kicked out of our home. -
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Ji Huang's Life
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Angel Island!
After spending four long months on the cramped boat with only the clothes I wear, I have finally made it to America! If I didn't know better I would think that based on the immigration center America would be horrible beacuse they kept poking and prodding at me, but I know that the gold ahead on my path will be enough for me to stay in America. -
Chinatown
Once I moved to America, I needed to start looking for a home. Fortunately, the Chinese Six Companies have set up a place they call "Chinatown", and they were happy to give me some housing if I could pay the rent. I have also found that many of the Chinese who have come before me (via smuggling or otherwise) have set up 'fongs' so we could meet, make friends, and receive services such as mail and borrowing money. -
Opposition
Apparently many of the Americans are unhappy of us coming here. I heard from my neighbor that some Chinese people were attacked by some Americans were attacked and even killed! However, with my family being so poor I can only hope I won’t be attacked. -
Gold!?!?
Reports of people finding gold have been spread through Chinatown. I heard of these reports back when I was in China in the "California Gold Rush", but it seems now a steady flow of these reports have been coming in! These reports have made many of my friends at the fong decide to go mining for gold. This gold would be a faster way for me to get money for my family, so I’m now preparing my things and starting to go for gold! -
Where's the Gold At?
After arriving and starting to mine for gold, my friends and I have found these lands to have already been robbed of all the big gold chunks during the previous gold rush. Because of the lack of gold, many of us have headed back home, but I still stay in hopes of finding some. -
Half Gold is Better than No Gold
After the disappointment of not finding much gold, I have decided to go and help other miners look for gold. It's not as good as earlier, but two people plus a deal of half the gold I find is still pretty good! -
Back to Work
After a couple months of gold mining, I have decided to go back to work. Due to the very small amounts of gold in these lands, there isn’t enough for my family to survive on. With a job and the steady income, I’ve made my decision. -
Conclusion
The Chinese Exclusion Acts and Chinese Prejudices have made me feel unwanted, but the gold drew me to America’s gold fields. However, once I arrived I found the fields ransacked with little gold left, which led me to eventually come back to Chinatown. After a year, I left back for China.
