Often, immigrants come to escape poverty or dangerous situations back home. Other times, they follow the promise of fortune. A great number of Chinese immigrated to North America to participate in the gold rushes of California and the Fraser Valley; still others left their home to escape a brutal civil war that shook China from 1850 to 1864. Vietnamese people also fled danger in the late 1970s when the communists took South Vietnam. Many Vietnamese came to Vancouver and were welcomed with open arms, but Chinese immigrants in Victoria faced antagonism soon after entering B.C. Though these experiences of reception and settlement for Chinese and Vietnamese immigrants were worlds apart, both groups have played an essential role in the prosperity of their communities.