Crossing the Salt

In the 1800s, China was forced to open its borders to trade after losing the Opium Wars to England. This defeat was followed by devastating droughts and floods that plunged the country’s economy into turmoil, leaving many people hungry and desperate. Amid the hardship, rumors spread across the Pacific of a mountain made of gold in northern California.

These whispers of opportunity led 20,000 Chinese men to cram into steamships, bringing with them little more than a small suitcase and the hope of finding riches to support the family members they left behind. Their journey began in the Pearl River Delta, continued to Hong Kong, and stretched across 6,000 treacherous nautical miles to the West Coast of America in search of Gam Saan—the “Gold Mountain.”