Retracing the Bay's History of Chinese Shrimping

Sep 10, 2014 at

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(Bird Feliciano/Chinese Whispers)

At China Camp State Park in Marin County, visitors can still explore the remnants of a 19th-century Chinese shrimp-fishing village. Such camps once ringed the Bay, and at the industry’s height they exported nearly 1 million pounds of dried shrimp to Asia annually. The new “Chinese Whispers: Bay Chronicles” project seeks to highlight this overlooked part of maritime history through voyages on a replica of a 19th-century sailing shrimp junk named “Grace Quan.” The project also includes public programs, lectures and a planned multimedia exhibit.

Photo: Gordon Szeto

Guests:

Rene Yung, artistic and founding director of Chinese Whispers, a research and storytelling project about the Chinese who helped build the American West, and project director of Chinese Whispers: Bay Chronicles

John Muir, curator of small craft for the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park and leader of the team which constructed the shrimping junk "Grace Quan" using traditional Chinese shipbuilding techniques