Part 1 of 2 in a historical deep dive of Chinese immigration to Canada. This episode covers the period of 1850 – 1885, and includes an overview of events in China at the time (including the Opium Wars and the Taiping Rebellion), Chinese migration during the British Columbia gold rush, the merger of the Colony of Vancouver Island and the Colony of British Columbia, numerous British Columbian laws designed to make reduce the number of Chinese in the Province, the building of the Trans Canada Railway, the Royal Commission on Chinese Migration to Canada and the Chinese Head Tax.