During the gold rush, which greatly changed the lives of the population of Australia in the 19th century, not only Europeans came there. Quite a large number of colonizers were Chinese. They also came for a new life, for wealth, and created their settlements on the territory of Australia with their cultural traditions.

You can get acquainted with how the Chinese lived in Australia during the gold rush at the Golden Dragon Museum, created by the Bendigo Chinese Association.

There are antiques that migrants came to a new country with, interesting artifacts from their past lives, and, of course, documentary records of how the Chinese settled their life, what difficulties they faced and what support they received.

Especially attractive is the hall, which contains the most beautiful costumes for holidays and rituals, outlandish headdresses, antique carved furniture. Some of the exhibits were brought by the first settlers from Chinese cultural centers and date back to the Shang dynasty 1600-1626 BC. These are probably the oldest exhibition specimens in all of Australia.

A beautiful garden of joy (Yi Yuan) is laid out around the museum. It is a joint project of the Chinese Association of Bendigo and Baoding city, located in the Hebei province of China. In the garden, everything is subject to strict rules and requirements that were imposed on the oldest Chinese gardens. And the prototype for the Garden of joy was a large park in the Imperial Palace in Beijing.

On the territory of the museum complex, there is a beautiful temple of the goddess of Mercy, built in Chinese traditions. This is a unique opportunity to enjoy the beauty of Eastern architecture in Australia.

There are a souvenir shop and a small tea house right in front of the museum. There you can buy oriental souvenirs and enjoy the elegant tea ceremony, which is so famous in China.

Besides, the museum has a training center and a large scientific library.