Bones of the Chinamen is the story of the Chinese slave trade in which Chinese were sent on slave ships from China, Hong Kong and Macau in the 19th century to Peru's Chincha Islands and to Havana, Cuba. The entire story is set in a barracoon in Swatow (Shantou) and portrays the brutal conditions under which many slaves were confined. Bones of the Chinamen was given a reading by Vox Theater Company in Manhattan and has won the South Asia Award of the BBC Overseas Playwrights contest, placing in the top 8 of 1200 entries. The world is aware of the African slave trade but seems to have forgotten about the Chinese slave trade. The play pulls no punches.