Nearly all these Chinese men initially planned to return to China once they had made enough money. About half of the initial Chinese immigrants did return to China where their wives and families lived. Most of the Chinese immigrants booked their passages on ships with the Pacific Mail Steamship Company (founded 1848) or on the American China clippers which often left California empty and looking for a new cargo before returning home. Nearly all Chinese immigrants neither spoke and understood English nor were they familiar with western culture and life. While in the United States they had little incentive to assimilate into the dominant culture or learn anything more than rudimentary English language skills. They did nearly all their business with a few Chinese businessmen that established businesses in California "China Towns". The hostility they experienced from nearly all other cultures in America and their belief that they would return to China often discouraged them from attempting to assimilate.