Chinese in Minnesota (People of Minnesota)

Minnesota’s first Chinese settlers, fleeing racial violence in California, established scores of businesses after they arrived in the late 1870s. Newspapers eagerly published reports of their activities, including New Year’s festivities, marriages, and restaurant and laundry openings. Beginning in 1882 federal laws banning Chinese immigration and denying citizenship put particular pressure on the community. Sherri Gebert Fuller relates the story of the Chinese from these early days to the 1960s, when a new wave of immigrants, including students, businessmen, and professionals from China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, began to bring new energy and issues to the community and a flourishing of ties between Minnesota and China.