BEECHWORTH CHINESE HISTORY

The influence of the Chinese miners is evident in Beechworth. There was a permanent Chinese Camp, complete with Joss House, shops, etc., and of course, the Chinese cemetery. This was common, and virtually every goldfield had similar 'Chinese sections'. The Chinese Section of the Beechworth Cemetery with its two burning towers (C.1857) and altar (1880) and over 2,000 graves with their distinctive granite carved grave markers are a reminder of the significant role the Chinese had in building Beechworth.

The Bank of New South Wales emblem is unique, as it includes a lion, a Chinese symbol that is used to guard the security of important buildings.

The Chinese Gardens, now being developed by the Beechworth Chinese Cultural Centre and Garden, Lake Sambell Management Committees and Indigo Shire Council is on a site close to the Chinese villages and where there were market gardens until the 20th Century.

The Chinese who came to the goldfields encountered a high level of hostility. They where often prepared to work poor claims that others had abandoned. They were very hardworking and any success was often met with high levels of discrimination and abuses.

And, while many miners eventually became immigrants, the Chinese were generally regarded as short-term residents. They intended to earn money and, having provided for themselves and their families, return home as prosperous men.

In Beechworth they were employed by sluicing companies, as well as working some areas in their own right. By 1863 it is estimated there were about 7,000 Chinese on the Beechworth fields (out of a total goldfields population of 30,000 - 40,000).

There needed to be a crossing over, 'bridging the boundaries' to accept and acknowledge that there was not just a European heritage, but a more diverse society, and that by June 1857, of a 20,000 population, 6,000 were Chinese. Despite administrative efforts to separate Chinese and Europeans there were serious cases of conflict on the Ovens, highlighted by riots on the Buckland on the 4th July 1857. The Police Superintendent Robert O'Hara Burke rapidly sent police reinforcements to the Buckland offering the fleeing Chinese 'a safe haven' at Beechworth. There is a legacy in the town and the region of an Asian culture with many families who have Chinese heritage. For more information visit the Beechworth Chinese Cultural Centre Beechworth Chinese Cultural Centre.

Chinese Village Restaurant, featuring Cantonese cuisine, operated by the Wu family from Canton.

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