Chinese immigrants were not laundrymen in China
The Chinese immigrants that came to North America in search of Gold Mountain from about 1850-1950 originated from impoverished villages of Guangdong province in southeastern China. However, racial prejudices toward the Chinese prevented them from working in most lucrative occupations. Laundry work, which was not something that most Chinese men did back in China, was one of the only lines of work left open to them. Laundry life was indeed difficult but it provided the economic lifeline for Chinese immigrants, which enabled them to raise and educate their children so they could escape the confines of the laundry and move into higher stations in life. This site will describe how the laundry became the meal ticket for Chinese and their descendants to overcame the obstacles placed before them in western society.
