Documentary shines light on Chinese Titanic survivors

Where did they go?

The group's miraculous survival did not bring an end to their ordeal. After landing on Ellis Island, New York, they were expelled from the US because of the Chinese Exclusion Act, a controversial law at the time that barred Chinese immigrants from entering the US. Shunned, they six were sent to Cuba on a fruit merchant ship. They then found their way to the UK to work as sailors.

Along the way, Chang Chip passed away from pneumonia in 1914 and was buried in an unmarked grave in a cemetery in London. Ali Lam was deported to Hong Kong or Shanghai and his whereabouts and potential descendants remain unknown. Ling Hee worked as a sailor on a boat and went to India, and no more was heard of him. Cheong Foo is still unidentified, because there were too many names similar to his. Lee Bing reached Canada after many twists and turns and opened a local cafe. Fang Lang is the only survivor that returned to the US, later becoming a businessman.

Parallels

Titanic may have sank long ago, but prejudice against people of Chinese descent still remains, said Jones.

Not much records remain of their story, and in the words of Cameron, "they were kind of shoveled off and hidden, expunged from records."

In records published after the shipwreck, many false claims persisted, including "reports" of Chinese survivors dressing as women to fight for spots on lifeboats. Rumors of a similar nature are still copious today.

"We used to talk about who was the hero and who the villain on Titanic. But now, what we need to talk about is racial discrimination, it also needs to be voiced," Jones added.

Tom Fong, son of Fang Lang and also featured in the film, said his father fought racial discrimination and derogatory comments made against his ethnicity his whole life. Though many family members of survivors were reluctant to share their stories, due to stigmas experienced by their ancestors, Fong decided to do so, hoping the audience could learn the true story of Titanic's Chinese survivors and perhaps reflect on what's happening in the US today.

"Because if you don't know the history, it will repeat itself," he said.