ABSTRACT
The nineteenth century gold rushes of the Pacific Rim were multicultural affairs. Though located in English speaking settler societies (the USA and the British colonies of Australia, Canada and New Zealand), the lure of gold attracted a diverse polyglot of miners. Most prominent amongst these were the Chinese. Somewhere between a quarter and half a million Chinese crossed the Pacific in search of gold. Today these gold rush regions contain a common Chinese mining heritage and there is increasing interest in developing this as tourism attractions and products. Our intention in this chapter is to outline these developments, particularly noting their differing levels of maturity and success and discussing common issues affecting Chinese mining heritage around the Pacific Rim.
