The lives of early Japanese and Chinese settlers in British Columbiahave come to define the Asian experience in Canada. Yet many Chinesemen did not seek their destiny on British Columbia, but followed therailway east, settling in small Prairie towns and cities.The Way of the Bachelor documents the religious beliefs andcultural practices that sustained and leant meaning to Chinesebachelors in Manitoba. In the absence of women and family, these menopened the regions first laundries and, by the turn of thetwentieth century, developed a new kind of restaurant theChinese cafe. They maintained their ties to the Old World andnegotiated a place for themselves in the new through a process calledDao the way of the bachelor. At cafes and restaurants,churches and Christians associations, and the offices of the ChineseNationalist Party, bachelors fostered a vibrant homosocial culturebased on friendship, everyday religious practices, the example of SunYat-sen, and the sharing of food.This fascinating exploration of the intersection of gender,migration, and religion in small Prairie towns and cities broadens ourunderstanding of the Chinese quest for identity in North America. Witha Foreword by the Honourable Inky Mark, former Member of Parliament forDauphin-Swan River-Marquette.
