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Club outing to the Museum
by Combined Probus Club of Blackburn South | 13 Sep 2016
The Club’s latest outing was to the Chinese Museum which is located in Cohen Place, Melbourne. We spent time exploring the Museum, followed by a guided tour of the surrounding “China Town” area in Lt. Bourke St. Melbourne.
The Museum is housed in a building which was formerly the dressing rooms for the adjacent “Her Majesty’s” theatre, and has only been established since 1985. There are 3 floors plus a basement area which contains various items on display.
The basement has been excavated and now forms a replica of Chinese mining operations, together with a Chinese “Cook Shop”
Also starting in the basement and then following along a winding passage is the Millennium Chinese Dragon which is only woken on the celebrations of Chinese New Year and the Moomba Festival. The Dragon is 63 metres long and needs 70 men to carry it. The head alone weighs 200 kilograms and requires 8 men to lift it. It is the 2nd. longest Dragon in the world and is only exceeded by the Sun Loong Dragon in Bendigo.
After completing the Museum tour, we then went on a walk along Lt. Bourke street looking at the shops and buildings which were used to house Chinese miners in the early 1855 era. There are several boarding houses in Celestial Ave. with several Christian Churches which the miners used, close by. We spent time looking around a Chinese dispensary with its collection of unusual herbs and animal products. This is still a full time Doctor’s practice with patients sitting around waiting for their consultation to take place
China Town was established as a resting place for the young miners, who after a month long voyage from Hong Kong, needed to obtain provisions before heading off to the goldfields.
Six years after gold was discovered in Victoria, (1851) there were 42,000 Chinese miners working in the goldfields.
Some made their fortune and returned to China, while others decided to remain in Australia.
®