Chinese Footprints: A Walking Tour of Wellington’s History

We began with a sit-down presentation at Wellington Trades Hall, where we learned about the three regions in China that most pre-1987 Chinese migrants to Aotearoa New Zealand hailed from. We also gained an understanding of the professions commonly taken up by Chinese migrants in their early years in Aotearoa New Zealand – such as laundry and fruit and vegetable stores – as they built a life from scratch and made a living for themselves through perseverance and hard work, despite facing discrimination and racially targeted legal barriers.

We also learned briefly about the rich history of Wellington Trades Hall itself, including as home to one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most infamous unsolved murder cases in 1984 when a bomb hidden in a suitcase exploded inside the hall.

Setting off outside into the brisk wind, we traced the historic steps of Chinese communities through central Pōneke – along Vivian Street, Haining Street, Taranaki Street and more – over the course of just over an hour.

We began at the Poon Fah Assn NZ Inc building on Vivian Street. This organisation was originally called the Poon Yu Association and was first established in 1870 during the goldmining era in Te Waipounamu South Island, with the national organisation forming later in 1916. The Vivian Street building was purchased in 1974, and the Association has been based there ever since.

The Poon Fah Assn NZ Inc on Vivian Street

We saw the site of the former Hong Kong cafe on Taranaki Street. You can still make out the remnants of the words ‘Hong Kong’ on the sign at the top of the building. This restaurant was a staple for Chinese food in Wellington and, until its closure, had been in operation since at least the 1950s.

The former Hong Kong cafe on Taranaki Street

We explored the former ‘Chinatown’, on Haining and Frederick streets – the hub of Chinese settlement and businesses in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The former Chinese Mission Hall was designed by architect Frederick de Jersey Clere and completed in 1906. It is one of the few buildings of the former ‘Chinatown’ that is still standing.

The former Chinese Mission Hall on the northern side of Frederick Street, in the former ‘Chinatown’. It has also operated as a photography studio and a sound studio in its lifetime

As well as being home to the former Chinese Mission Hall, Frederick Street is also home to the former Tung Jung Association headquarters and the Wellington Chinese Masonic Society building. We paid a visit to these sites too.

The Wellington Chinese Masonic Society building on Frederick Street, built in 1925. This is another one of the few remaining structures from the historic ‘Chinatown’

The Asian Aotearoa Arts 2024 write-up about this tour reads, ‘The rich history of the Chinese in Wellington is largely invisible to the casual observer, yet if we look beyond the surface, the past begins to reveal itself’. It was amazing to be able to listen to Lynette and watch the past reveal itself in front of our eyes.

We then saw a plaque that was unveiled in 2005 on Haining Street – at the site of the murder of retired miner Joe Kum Yung a century earlier.

The plaque unveiled in 2005 on Haining Street honouring the life of Joe Kum Yung

Joe Kum Yung was born in Poonyu County in Guangdong, China, and had arrived in Aotearoa New Zealand around 1880 after spending several years mining in Victoria, Australia. As a retired and elderly man, he decided to move to Haining Street in Wellington, the centre of the city’s Chinese community.

Then on 24 September 1905, Joe Kum Yung was shot from behind by white supremacist Lionel Terry and died in hospital shortly thereafter. Terry violently opposed Asian immigration – despite having been in the country far less time than Joe Kum Yung. Terry’s murder trial brought burgeoning anti-Chinese sentiment to the surface, with sections of the jury, media and the public expressing sympathy for Terry.

An article from Woodville Examiner (from Papers Past – the National Library’s collection of historic online newspapers), dated 27 November 1905, demonstrates that a petition begging for commutation of Terry’s death sentence was ‘placed for signature in all the chief business places in the city’. The petition text reads: ‘... Terry, a man of high character and repute, was, at the time of the committal of the deed and at the trial ... a monomaniac; and, being insane, therefore is morally irresponsible for the crime he committed’. Terry’s sentence was indeed later reduced to life imprisonment in psychiatric institutions, on the grounds of ‘insanity’.

The plaque installed in 2005 rightly honours the life of Joe Kum Yung and provides a dignity that was never afforded by the New Zealand public at large at the time of his death. Lynette also organised a re-enactment in 2005, to mark the centenary of this significant and devastating event for the Chinese community in Aotearoa New Zealand.

As the tour group moved further down Haining Street, it was a privilege to hear Lynette tie her own family history into the walking tour. Lynette showed us photographs of her grandfather’s gorgeous three-piece woollen suit that he considered ideal for any occasion, even a trip to the grocery store.

We finished back at Wellington Trades Hall, where Lynette had planned an exciting surprise activity, snacks and Chinese tea. We had a choice between kumquat tea or bright yellow chrysanthemum tea, accompanied by several treats including a divinely spongy pandan cake. This was an opportunity to chat with each other and Lynette, and it rounded off the event perfectly.

Lynette says, ‘I love these chances to share the fabulous collections of the Alexander Turnbull Library at the National Library and my family history, but also the largely invisible community history something like these events can showcase.’

Despite the biting Wellington wind, the walking tour was a wholly enjoyable, impeccably organised and incredibly informative experience. It was packed to capacity and always sells out quickly – so book early for the next ‘Chinese Footprints’ walking tour.

The former Tung Jung Association headquarters building on Frederick Street, built in 1926

Walking tour participants peering through the peephole at the former Chinese Mission Hall on Frederick Street

The Seyip Association of NZ Inc. building on Ghuznee Street