Providing part of the cosmopolitan mix of Port Elizabeth was the Chinese community. They were scattered throughout Port Elizabeth, particularly in the city centre as well as Sidwell, Korsten, South End, Sydenham, Perkin Street and Dassie Kraal. Their status in South Africa of yore was ambivalent; not black enough yet not white.

The history of the Chinese community in Port Elizabeth is a long-standing narrative of endurance, retail entrepreneurship and resilience against systemic racial exclusion.

This is their story in Port Elizabeth. 

Main picture: Chinese School in North End

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