"Victoria Chinatown • It was the shortage of coal labour in Nanaimo that brought Chinese labourers to the city. When coal was discovered at Nanaimo in 1850, the Chinese moved north from Victoria. However, by the summer of 1858, Victoria was a cluster of tents strung out in uneven rows, housing 6,000 immigrants.  The Chinese formed their own tent community in this tent town. • By December 1858, the future premier of British Columbia, Amor de Cosmos, derogatorily referred to Victoria as "Little Canton". Undeterred by race hatred, Chinatown quickly expanded. In 1859, a Chinese doctor by the name Ah Chi opened the first dispensary for non-Chinese on Johnson Street, in Victoria. Shortly thereafter, the dispensary moved to Cormorant Street, which became the centre of Victoria's developing Chinatown. Prior to that, a Chinese laundry had been established." Some History of China Town