The first numbers of Chinese arrived in British Guiana in 1853, forming an important minority of the indentured workforce. After their indenture, many who stayed on in Guyana came to be known as successful retailers, with considerable integration with the local culture. The most notable person of Chinese ancestry was the Former Guyana President Arthur Chung, was independent Guyana's first President from 1970 to 1980, and the first Chinese head of state of a non-Asian country. History Fourteen thousand Chinese arrived in British Guiana between 1853 and 1879 on 39 vessels bound from Hong Kong by the British Raj officials to fill the labor shortage on the sugar plantations engendered by the abolition of slavery. Smaller numbers arrived in other British colonies such as Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname. The Chinese achieved considerable success in the colony, a number of them having been Christians in China before the emigration. Some, particularly in the early years were "the offscourings of Canton--gaol-birds, loafers and vagabonds," who swiftly deserted the plantations and took to bootlegging, burglary and robbery and kept brothels and gambling houses. Others were fleeing the Punti-Hakka Clan Wars conflicts of Canton. Most were bound under five-year indentures—civil contracts enforced by penal sanctions—to work on the sugar plantations. Eighty-five percent of these Chinese immigrants were men staying at Guyana, and most returned to China or emigrated to other parts of the Guianas and the Caribbean after completing or escaping their indentures. Those who remained soon turned to trade, competing effectively with the Portuguese Guyanese and Indo-Guyanese, who had also entered as indentured laborers, in the retail sector. Look-Lai reports important Chinese import and wholesale traders by the 1880s and that the 1890s saw Chinese "druggists, butchers, hucksters, cart and boat cab owners, barbers, laundrymen and legal sellers of opium and ganja (marijuana)" and holding 50% of food shop licenses and 90% of liquor licenses. By the end of the 19th century, the Chinese had transcended their early reputation for criminality and come to be regarded as worthy, law-abiding, industrious citizens. Unlike other communities of overseas Chinese, the Chinese of Guyana swiftly abandoned traditional Chinese customs, religion and language. Their eager acceptance of Christianity contrasted sharply with the strong attachment of other overseas Chinese communities to their ancestral religions and to Christian missionary conversion efforts. Many of the first generation Chinese Guyanese were Christians while in China, and most others converted