Chinese Australians mark 200 years
In February 1818, Mak Sai Ying arrived in Sydney from Guangzhou Province, China as the first recorded Chinese settler in Australia. It was the first step of a 200-year journey for the Chinese community in Australia, which now boasts more than 1.2 million people who proudly declare their Chinese ancestry.
To mark this 200-year milestone, the Chinese Museum is researching and discovering the collective journeys of all Chinese Australians by calling out to individuals, associations, city and regional communities and historians to submit their Chinese Australian stories to include in the one million stories exhibition.
The exhibition aims to strengthen and clarify the identity of Chinese Australians and acknowledge their contribution to the evolution of contemporary multicultural Australia and will open at Chinese New Year 2019.
By the end of the 19th Century, industrious and enterprising Chinese Australian workers dispersed from the goldfields to nearly all corners of Australia from Christmas Island, Launceston, to Cooktown becoming the cornerstone of many primary producing and mining industries – they became embedded in the regions and cities across Australia, creating their own communities to express their culture whilst bonding with others to become part of the total Australian social fabric.
What parts of Chinese culture do you most enjoy in Australia?
Have to say I like Chinese food,dance,festivals and the country, but I was forced to sit through a Chinese opera once by some business associates on a visit to China. I'd rather have teeth pulled!