Between 1904 and 1910, over 63,000 contracted miners were brought in to work the mines of the Witwatersrand. Most of these contractors were recruited from the provinces of Chihli (Zhili), Shantung (Shandong) and Honan (Henan) in China. They were repatriated after 1910, because of strong White opposition to their presence, similar to anti-Asian sentiments in the western United States, particularly California at the same time. It is a myth that the contracted miners brought into South Africa at this time are the forefathers of much of South Africa's Chinese population.