Before 1903, early Chinese immigrants were buried in the low-lying southwestern corner of Ross Bay cemetery, an area often flooded after heavy rainstorms. In the early 1900s, high winds and waves eroded some waterfront Chinese graves, exposing coffins and sweeping away remains. In 1903, the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association purchased this site for a cemetery. Under traditional Chinese burial practices, remains were exhumed after seven years, the bones cleaned and dried, then packed in wooden crates for shipment back to China. While awaiting shipment, the bones were kept in a bone house, and remains from across Canada were sent to Victoria for storage until the next shipment. Transfer of these remains ceased in 1937. The Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association closed the cemetery in 1950 after all available burial sites were occupied. A final ceremony was held in 1961, burying the last remains in 13 mass graves. The site was chosen according to principles of Feng Shui, with surrounding landforms and waters understood as the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Pillow Mountain, Living Water, Grand Hall, and distant Worshiping Mountain Range. Harling Point is also home to rare plant species, distinctive geological features shaped by glaciers, and Harpoon Rock, which local Songhees oral tradition links to a story of a seal hunter turned into stone by the Transformer. The preservation and beautification of the cemetery has been carried out jointly by the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, the District of Oak Bay, and community members as part of an important local heritage landscape.