How Did Ib David Tsao Come To Canada

Zhang David Tsao was suffering from hard labor, physical pain and mental torture. He wondered how the white men could face themselves in their posh, round mirrors, after treating the Chinese with utmost disrespect. After two years of working on the Canadian Pacific Railway following multiple attempts to run away, Zhang regretted that he had come to Canada for money. His family in China was suffering from ailments and poverty.

His parents- Feng and Jia Tsao- were long dead. They were rich and wealthy, but due to the 1870 flooding of the Yangtze River, they lost their most of their rice farms, with the exception of one. This event in the Tsaos’ life led to suffering from huge loans and loss. They ended (literally) up in a financial crisis. The

He had gotten seasickness and was treated by the limited amount of medical care available to him, which had nothing else, but herbal medicines. By the time the Chinese reached Canada, they hardly had any medicine left. When Zhang and the other unsuspecting bunch reached Canada they were surprised to see the opposite of what was promised. Canada did not look like the land of riches, it did not have a safe environment and by looking at the way the white builders treated them, they certainly weren’t free. Many caught scurvy and died due to the lack of food and medical attention. Canada wasn’t lacking of medical resources. The problem was, they weren’t available to the Chinese. Zhang and the others had to fend for themselves, by making herbal medicines, which at times cured a person and which at times

Diet and living conditions were terrible. Whenever a considerable amount of tracks were put into the railway, the workers had to move their camps. The Chinese workers often hiked 40 kilometers to reach the next camp. They had to take down their tents, pack up their belongings and move everything to the next place. Zhang remembered when they were in B.C. and the land was very mountainous. He was thankful that they weren’t there during winter!

After one more year of work- in all, four years- Zhang and the Chinese’s work on the railroad was finally finished. From one side of Canada to another they had travelled on foot. The Tom, Song Lee and many others- white and Chinese- had died. Even if Zhang was free, he had made a big mistake. He had dreamed about his family, food, riches and many more things, but it finally dawned on him that he didn’t have enough money to go back to