Lake Temescal Dam

The Chinese workers (men only) lived in camps, where, in their free time, they played traditional Chinese games including mahjong and Pai gow. They dressed in typical "coolie" clothing like that worn by farmers in China at the time. Within 20 years, the U.S. would pass the Chinese Exclusion Act that made it illegal for any Chinese person to immigrate to the U.S. for work.
The first Chinese workers arrived in the San Francisco Bay Area at the start of the Gold Rush. Some mined for gold, but faced violence and hostility from white miners. Gold mines started to ban Chinese workers in 1852, so those workers were forced to change work. Anti-Chinese rallies led by the Workingmen's Party occurred in Oakland and Emeryville in the 1870s. This party gained seats in the California state senate, and they denied Chinese citizens voting rights.