Best of Bendigo
Golden Dragon Museum Bendigo: Chinese-Australian Heritage and the Easter Festival
The Golden Dragon Museum on Bridge Street in Bendigo is the world's finest repository of Chinese imperial processional regalia outside China, housing the historic imperial dragons and lions that have participated in Bendigo's Easter Festival since the 1890s. The museum tells the story of Chinese migration to the Bendigo goldfields in the 1850s and the community that established deep roots in the city over subsequent generations. The Easter Festival, which draws tens of thousands of visitors annually, includes a procession through the city led by the famous imperial dragons. The Yi Yuan Garden adjacent to the museum is a traditional Chinese garden and a peaceful complement to the exhibition spaces. Entry to the museum carries a fee.
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Sun Loong, The World's Longest Imperial Dragon
The centrepiece of the Golden Dragon Museum: Sun Loong, at 110 metres, is the world's longest imperial dragon and is paraded through Bendigo streets each Easter.
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Dai Gum San, Chinese Goldfields History
An immersive recreation of a Chinese village on the Bendigo goldfields, with authentic artefacts, photographs and the stories of the Chinese miners who arrived from 1853.
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Easter Festival, Dragon Parade
Bendigo's Easter Festival features the parade of the imperial dragon through the CBD streets, a tradition since 1892 and one of the oldest Chinese festivals in Australia.
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Chinese Gardens of Bendigo
Heritage gardens adjacent to the museum, free to enter, with traditional Chinese plantings, a pavilion and a tranquil atmosphere.
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Joss House, Ling Ying Temple
A restored 19th-century Chinese temple on the outskirts of Bendigo at Crusoe Reservoir, the oldest Chinese temple in regional Australia still used for religious purposes.
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