Tracing Chinese migration in Sydney's soil

Australia's relationship with Chinese migrants has left traces buried in the earth at The Rocks in Sydney and in the Chinatown precinct in Haymarket.

Australia's relationship with Chinese migrants has left traces buried in the earth at The Rocks in Sydney and in the Chinatown precinct in Haymarket.

That relationship has ebbed and flowed: there was a peak in the 19th century, when many Sydney settlers looked to China to provide the struggling colony with the finer things in life.

That dwindled to a virtual standstill under the White Australia policy and now Chinese migration is resurgent, and very likely leaving new traces in Sydney's soil.

Former City of Sydney Historian Professor Shirley Fitzgerald is examining those traces and she's speaking here to Peggy Giakoumelos.

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