Which country is Melbourne from?

Melbourne is the capital and largest city of Victoria, the second largest city in Australia, and one of the most famous cities in the world. Melbourne has been continuously selected by the United Nations as one of the ten most livable cities in the world. In 2005, it was ranked first among the best cities in the world to live in. From 1901 to 1927, when the Australian Federation was first established, Melbourne was the capital of Australia. Melbourne is the economic, financial and commercial shopping center city of Australia and the Southern Hemisphere, as well as the cultural center of the Southern Hemisphere. Before 1835, Melbourne was basically uninhabited. In 1840, Melbourne's population was 10,000. In 1851, gold mines were discovered in Melbourne. A large number of people from all over the world came to Melbourne to dig for gold, including a large number of Chinese workers. Due to the gold rush, Melbourne's population grew rapidly. According to historical records, in 1836, Melbourne's population was only 177. By 1851, the population was 29,000. By 1854, it had reached 123,000, making the gold treasure extremely wealthy. San Francisco (San Francisco) in the United States has eclipsed it, so Melbourne is also called Xinjinshan by the Chinese. To this day, there are still many local Chinese-run schools, shops, and companies with the name "Xinjinshan" in their names. Li Gui, a Manchu diplomat in the late Qing Dynasty, mentioned in his "Eastbound Diary" two overseas Chinese cities outside China, namely the "Two Jinshan" (San Francisco, USA and Melbourne, Australia), and said that "Separating the old from the new", the name "Xinjinshan" has a history of at least more than a hundred years.

Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne

The Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne, built in 1845, is located about five kilometers south of downtown Melbourne. The garden is decorated with 19th-century garden art and contains a large number of rare plants and plants unique to Australia. The botanical garden covers an area of ??40 hectares. It still retains some buildings and features from the last century, and has a collection of more than 30,000 exotic flowers and plants. It is one of the best designed botanical gardens in the world.

Royal Melbourne Exhibition Building

The Royal Melbourne Exhibition Building was built in 1880. The building is antique and beautiful. It was the venue for the World Expo from 1880 to 1881. One of the purposes of its original design and construction was to make the exhibition hall and Melbourne "famous on the world map." The building combines Byzantine architecture, ancient Roman architecture, and Italian Renaissance architecture. Style, it received 1.3 million visitors to the World Exposition within an eight-month period that year. During the 1888 Expo, held to celebrate the centenary of immigrants settling in Australia, the number of visitors reached 2.2 million. More than a hundred years ago, this was a great event. In June 2004, Melbourne's Royal Exhibition Hall was included in the United Nations World Cultural Heritage List. It is the only building in Australia so far included in this list. What is even more difficult is that the building is still used as an exhibition venue, but due to cultural relic protection reasons, the frequency of use has been greatly reduced.

Chinatown

Melbourne’s Chinatown is Little Bourke Street, especially the bustling area from the east end to the middle of this street. Chinatown is not a residential area, but a place in the center of Melbourne where Chinese restaurants and shops gather. Melbourne Chinatown is about 900 meters long and 6 meters wide, spanning five streets perpendicular to it. There are many Chinese restaurants here, including bookstores, boutiques, duty-free shops, handicraft shops, etc. owned by Chinese. They all have Chinese signs and are full of oriental flavor. The history of Melbourne's Chinatown began in 1854. It is the earliest Chinatown in Australia and one of the earliest Chinatowns in the world.

Melbourne Chinatown at night (2008) Melbourne Chinatown itself is an ancient street. Most of the buildings on both sides of the street are more than half a century old. They are quaint but not vicissitudes of life. Unlike Chinatowns in other areas where the archways are engraved with Chinese characters, only archways with red walls and green tiles without characters are erected at the intersection of four cross streets.

Every Spring Festival, especially the weekend closest to the first day of the year, Melbourne’s Chinatown has lanterns hung high and flags flying. Many Chinese (Chinese people) come to Chinatown to participate in activities to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year. Melbourne City The government closed part of Chinatown and Russell Street perpendicular to it, prohibiting vehicle traffic, and specially made it available for Chinese to hold celebration parties. Local residents and tourists can enjoy dragon and lion dances, artistic performances, etc., in addition to attracting Chinese In addition, it also attracts a large number of local Australian residents to come and watch. Chinatown is a cohesion for the Chinese and an attraction for all ethnic groups in Australia. It has become more and more famous in recent years.

In the central open space in the heart of Chinatown, there is an archway modeled after the Chaotian Lingxing Gate in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, which has become a symbol leading to the Macao-China Museum.

The Australian-Chinese Museum was built in November 1985 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the founding of Victoria. The location of the museum was allocated by the Australian government. The museum retains the true mark of the history of Chinatown when it was first established and when Chinese immigrated to Australia. People can Witness the historical changes of Chinatown from a large number of photos, documents, and objects, and experience the life of the Chinese at that time. On the one hand, this museum displays the historical materials of the Chinese in Australia, and on the other hand, it promotes Chinese culture.

One of the archways in Chinatown, with the Australian-Chinese Museum behind it. In Chinatown, there are several Chinese guild halls, including the Siyi guild hall, the Chaozhou guild hall, the Fujian guild hall, and the Nanfanshun guild hall (Nanhai, Panyu, Shunde). The plaques of some guild halls were engraved in the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty. These guild halls are hundreds of years old. The old guild hall is of great historical value, and the coexistence of ancient and modern features makes Melbourne's Chinatown unique.

The Old Parliament Building

Built in 1856, it is the current seat of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Victoria. The building is beautiful and unique. Because the old Parliament Building is located not far from the Melbourne Marriage Registration Office on the same street, newlyweds and wedding guests often take pictures here.