Chinatown
Chinatown is mostly known for its good and bad Asian restaurants but did you know that Melbourne’s Chinatown is the longest continuously running Chinatown outside of Asia? The Chinese, like many other nationalities were lured over to Victoria (and Australia) with the promise of finding gold during the 1850’s gold rush. Shops and boarding houses were set up around 1854 to service the ambitious Chinese immigrants. After the gold rush fizzled, the area around Little Bourke Street transformed from boarding houses into various stores, importers, furniture makers, and of course restaurants. For much of the Chinese community, it has evolved into a place where friends and family get together to celebrate various occasions.
Some interesting facts:
- The oldest Chinatown in Australia.
- The oldest continuous Chinese settlement in Australia.
Contains the world’s longest Chinese dragon (over 100 metres).Located in Bendigo.- Lord Mayor John So used to run The Dragon Boat restaurant and now partially owns many restaurants in Chinatown.
Wikipedia: Chinatown, Melbourne
Picture via theurbannexus
Technorati Tags: Melbourne, Australia, Chinatown
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Great info! WOW! Maybe some china town hotspots? Honestly I’ve always been frightened of dinning in an over expensive or of bad quality restaurant.. Thanks!
Unfortunately, I think the Wikipedia article is in error. The longest dragon, if you follow the link to their source, is actually in Bendigo. From what I can find there’s some other shorter dragon at the Chinese Museum in Chinatown.
I’d fix the Wikipedia article but I work only two blocks from the museum, so I’ll go confirm it firsthand first!
Good spotting. Thanks Mark.