Long, long ago
What did people catch in this bay?
China Camp's shrimp village. A true story near Marin County, CA, told for kids 5–8.
The China Camp State Park story, read aloud
Not far from here, in San Rafael, China Camp is an old Chinese American fishing village beside San Pablo Bay. What did people catch in that bay? Shrimp! People from this village went out in sailboats and caught bay shrimp with nets. Wind pushed their boats across the water. The nets gathered little shrimp that hands alone could never catch.
Imagine trying to ask a shrimp to climb aboard. It would be a very poor listener! Today, China Camp is a state park. Some old shrimping buildings are still there. They help tell the story of the people who worked beside the bay. And the village wasn't the beginning.
A shell mound there is thousands of years old. Coast Miwok people lived along this shore long before the shrimping village. Your turn: pretend your arms are a sail. Which way would the wind push you?
Quiz the back seat
What did China Camp's fishing village catch?
Show the answer
Bay shrimp. Bay shrimp! China Camp also protects a salt marsh beside the bay.
China Camp State Park facts for kids
- China Camp preserves a historic Chinese American shrimp-fishing village in San Rafael.
- Village fishers caught bay shrimp using sailboats and nets.
- The park includes a prehistoric shell mound and a salt marsh.
Questions kids ask about China Camp State Park
What did people catch at China Camp?
The Chinese American fishing village caught bay shrimp with nets from sailboats.
Where is China Camp?
China Camp is in San Rafael, Marin County, beside San Pablo Bay.
What remains at China Camp today?
The state park preserves old shrimping buildings and a shell mound thousands of years old.
For grown-ups
Written with AI from public sources, then checked claim by claim against the sources below before it was published; stories that don't pass stay off the app and this site. Narration is pre-recorded, and nothing you do on this page is tied to your kids.
Sources
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Camp_State_Park
- parks.ca.gov/chinacamp
- friendsofchinacamp.org/tiny-shrimp-big-challenges
- foundsf.org/Chinese_shrimping_village
- friendsofchinacamp.org/cultural-reports-shed-light-on-china-camps-history
- oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8wm1k06
- friendsofchinacamp.org/coast_miwok_book
- kqed.org/news/11129573/last-surviving-resident-of-historic-chinese-safe-haven-dies
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Town and county names: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0).