Despite hostility and discrimination, Chinese continued to immigrate to California to avail themselves of whatever opportunities awaited them. When they were prevented from mining gold in the mining districts, they became merchants or laborers, or sought employment elsewhere. Chinese immigrants often found work within the agricultural and fishing industries. Since most of the early Chinese immigrants were from farming areas in China, it was natural for them to become involved in agriculture. Few of them were able to become independent farmers because most were not citizens and thus were prevented by local laws from owning land. However, their contributions were extensive. They reclaimed swampland in the Sacramento delta. Many raised vegetables and fruit that they sold door-to-door. Others were sharecroppers or tenant farmers, who leased land and paid the landlord part of their crop. Most were migrant farm laborers. Chinese-American farm labor was essential to the development of various crops that required special skill and care, such as harvesting and processing olives. Chinese immigrants also provided essential labor for development of the wine industry in California.

In coastal communities, for example in Monterey, San Diego, and San Luis Obispo counties, Chinese inhabitants helped develop the industry for squid, abalone, shrimp, sturgeon, and various other kinds of fish. They also processed kelp and a variety of other marine products. By the late 1880s, there were more than two thousand Chinese in fishing camps throughout the San Francisco Bay, Monterey and San Diego areas. Chinese fishermen ran into antagonism from white fishermen who pressured the California legislature to pass restrictions on Chinese fishing activities. This caused hardship for the communities and eventually the decline of Chinese fishing operations. The effects of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 also adversely affected the population of these communities.

The Chinese also provided services as laundrymen, cooks, servants, and gardeners. As early as the 1850s, the first Chinese laundries appeared in San Francisco, and by 1870, these immigrants ran the majority of the laundries. Chinese restaurants also became quite common, serving first the Chinese community, and later other clients as cooks learned to prepare Western fare. Chinese also worked in textile mills and shoe and cigar factories.