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photo by Donald Kinney
Age is sneaky. Rust becomes real. Memories become golden. Our minds begin playing tricks on us. What we forget, we just might re-invent.
And I can imagine myself as a young boy in a busy shrimping village on San Pablo Bay. Dad is gone most of the day on a boat netting small Bay Shrimp. Mom has me with her and I carefully watch as she spreads the catch on straw mats in the sun to dehydrate. Life is basic, but I do not know the difference. All I know is China Camp, or as we called it; "Wa Jen Ha Lio".
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photo by Donald Kinney
Our elders knew our place in this new land, but I am just a youngster and have not yet discovered that we were discriminated against in the most horrible of ways. I am not allowed to attend school, and I will always wonder about the White Man who we had to hire to deliver our product to San Francisco. Shrimping was one of the only occupations we were allowed. We did the dirty work no White Man would or could do. Many of us labored hard in the gold mines and built railroads through impossible territory.
click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney
Slowly we either died or left China Camp to be absorbed into concentrated ghettos of the City. Eventually sentiment loosened and we were happy with occupations in laundries and restaurants. We tried our best to behave ourselves and become invisible. White Man's fear had been diverted toward other people--those with dark skin. Hateful bastards. We remained silent.
click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney
So today, one hundred fifty years later China Camp remains. The dozens of shacks are now just a few. Visitors visit. If they are lucky they can spot China Camp's lone remaining resident, Frank Quan. He is shy and old as dirt, but will stop and talk if you insist. Stop by on Saturdays and you can even order up a hot-dog, a bag of chips, and maybe even a glass of wine in the tiny restaurant Frank supervises. No one-hundred dollar bills, please.
China Camp is now a California State Park, operated under the auspices of "Friends of China Camp". CLICK for a wonderful history of China Camp.
CLICK for 40 new photos on my "NEW" photo website.
2 comments:
I enjoyed today's story on China Camp. And, thanks for taking me there and introducing me.
JB
You are welcome, MR. JAN BELL. My pleasure, and as you know, we didn't have enough days to see it all.
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