From the Sonoma Index-Tribune
More than 150 years ago, a quarter of Sonoma’s residents were Chinese immigrants who helped form Wine Country, planting grapes and building irrigation systems and wine cellars before being pushed out by the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
Their labor contributions aren’t widely recognized, according to local historians. To honor those forgotten workers, who suffered from low pay, crowded living conditions and bigotry, the Sonoma Sister Cities Association held a Chinese New Year’s celebration Sunday at Jacuzzi Family Vineyards.
Nearly 200 guests, including Sonoma Mayor Amy Herrington and Chinese Ambassador Wang Donghua, attended the event, organized by the association’s Sonoma-Penglai committee to raise money to build a Ting, or Chinese-style pavilion, in Sonoma’s Depot Park.
“I am deeply moved by the fact that in history some Chinese here working in wineries came from my hometown,” said Donghua, who is from the northeast Chinese province of Shandong and serves as the consul general for the People’s Republic of China in San Francisco.
Peggy Phelan, Sonoma-Penglai committee chair, said the idea of building a Ting to honor Chinese immigrant laborers has been three or four years in the making. She’s hoping to get a building permit within a month and break ground at Depot Park sometime this year. The Chinese style pavilion will be funded by donations.
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