Building
the Yee Fung Toy Society
The founding of the Yee Fung Toy
Society (YFTS) 100 years ago was a direct
result of Chinese immigration into British
Columbia，which began in the 1850s with the
discovery of gold in the Fraser valley. Many
of these early immigrants came from the
provinces of Guangdong and Fujian. They
sailed to San Francisco but in May of 1858
reports of the discovery of gold sent some
of them to Victoria. It is reported that the
first Chinese arrived in Victoria
on June 28, 1858 (source).
In 1871, as British Columbia entered
confederation (and joined the new Dominion
of Canada founded in 1867), it had about
3,000 Chinese within its boundaries, mostly
men.
Victoria became a centre for Chinese
immigrants either on their way into Canada,
or on their way back to China. There were
enough members of the Yee Family in Victoria
that in 1904 they formed an association to
help out one another. They provided the most
basic of services. In the beginning they
would pool their resources to rent a few
rooms for extended periods, so that whoever
is in town from the gold mines or the
railway camps would have a roof over their
heads during their stays, no matter how
crowded it might get. They might cook some
meals together, and pass their leisure time
playing Mah Jong and smoking their water
pipes. In time the association would save up
enough money to buy a small property to
serve as permanent quarters for the YFTS in
the Victoria Chinatown area.
A similar story took place in
Vancouver in terms of developing a Yee Fung
Toy House. As the commercial importance of
Victoria waned, so did its Chinese
population. In 1951 the YFTS was moved to
Vancouver Chinatown in its current location
at 226 East Georgia Street.
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