Book excerpt: For more than 300 years Chinese have been part of the fascinating mix of people who make up the inhabitants of the southern tip of Africa. One of the smallest and most identifiable minority groups in arguably the most race-conscious country in the world, they have not up to now been the focus of serious historical attention. This detailed and descriptive chronological account aims to fill a gap in available histories by providing a comprehensive record of the Chinese in South Africa from the earliest times to the mid-1990s.