Chinese Culture
traditions
Mid-Autumn Festival: As the chinese legend goes, there was a woman named Chang’e, her husband Hou’Yi was an amazing archer. During the time there were 10 suns in the sky and the people on earth were suffering from horrible heat, to save earth Hou’Yi shot down 9 of the suns with his bow and arrow.
Hou’Yi was granted an elixir of immortality by the grateful people of the land. To protect the elixir from thieves Chang’e was forced to consume it and become the immortal moon goddess. Hou’Yi missed her very much and would make offerings to the moon in memory of her.
This is how the traditional moon cakes (月饼 pronounced Yuèbǐng) and Moon festivals began. In modern times, the Moon Festival/Mid-Autumn harvest festival has become a family holiday celebrated with food, gifts, traveling and flying lanterns in hopes of happiness.
The Chinese culture has several traditional festivals. The most important is Chinese New Year and the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Chinese New Year: The first day of Lunar New Year (also known as Chinese New Year) begins on the day in which a New Moon appears, (Next Years Celebration is estimated to occur on the 12th of January) The celebration lasts for 15 days until the Chinese Lantern Festival.
The holiday is traditionally a time to honor household and heavenly deities and families ancestors. A family reunion dinner on Chinese New Year's Eve is a big feast to commemorate the past year and pay respect to their deities and ancestors.
Red pockets [红包 (pronounced hóng bāo)], are small red envelopes filled with lucky money and are traditionally given to children during Chinese New Year.
新年好 (Guo Nian Hao) is one of the most used greetings during Chinese New Year. It means “Happy New Year”.
Moon Cakes 月饼
Red pockets [红包
History in Australia
In the early 1850s, many Chinese immigrants came to Australia as labourers working as shepherds, rural labourers, cooks and gardeners. However the migration of Chinese really began in 1853 as Chinese miners arrived in Victoria during the Gold Rush in hopes of hitting the jackpot and sending money back home to family members.
So many Chinese people had journeyed to Australia that in 1855 an anti-Chinese legislation was passed in Australia imposing that "a tax of £10 for each Chinese person arriving in the colony, plus a restriction on the number of Chinese people allowed to disembark in Melbourne to one Chinese person for every 10 tonnes of shipping" in Victoria.
In 1857, anti-Chinese riots took place in north-eastern Victoria. Many Chinese miners died and had been hurt. The remaining Chinese diggers rallied in protest against the tax by forming the "United Confederacy of Chinese' on the Ovens, Bendigo, Castlemaine and Ballarat goldfields".
Which led to the 1859, protest where thousands of Chinese people marched in protest towards the Victorian government presenting a petition that contained many signatures of support for removing the tax.
Language
There are two popular languages spoken by Chinese people; Mandarin and Cantonese. Mandarin however is the official state language of China and the most widely spoken Chinese dialect.
Here are some useful Mandarin phrases and words:
Thank you! 谢谢！ (pronounced xiè xie)
You’re welcome. 不用谢。(pronounced bú yòng xiè)
Hello. 你好。 (pronounced nǐ hǎo)
How are you? 你好吗? (pronounced nǐ hǎo ma)
OK/Good 好 (pronounced hǎo) / 好的 (pronounced hǎo de)
Not OK/ Not Good 不好 (pronounced bù hǎo)
My name is…: 我叫... (pronounced Wuh jeow...)
Food
Won Tons
Won tons are commonly boiled and served in soup or sometimes deep-fried. They can be filled with a range of different toppings such as minced pork or diced shrimp and are wrapped in a thin dough sheet.
Chinese Hotpot
Chinese hotpot is one of the most popular meals in Chinese culture due to its variety of cooking options. A basic layout of hotpot includes:
a simmering metal pot with broth, raw ingredients placed around the metal pot (such as vegetables and meet slices.
The ingredients are placed separately so that people can add and cook whatever they like in the broth at different times.
Where they majorly located in Melbourne
Melbourne's largest Chinese population is the suburb of Box Hill. In Box Hill, over 60% of residents are either born in China or with Chinese ancestry.
FUN FACT: Melbourne's 'City' is also highly populated with Chinese people. The area is sometimes commonly simply referred to as China Town to signify the amount of Chinese people and influence in the area.