The Chinese connections with Australia started with the gold rush in the 1800's. Most of them were not very well treated. See
http://www.oldmogotown.com.au/chinese.html
When the gold discoveries began to dwindle, many Chinese returned to their homeland, but a few chose to stay, run businesses, marry and settle permanently in Australia.
Chinese are now much better treated now, and in fact, probably flourishing in Australia. Some started businesses like providing Shiatsu or the Traditional Chinese Massage and Bodywork in the Gold Coast, Queensland. See
http://www.usenature.com/shiatsu.htm
Many started Chinese restaurants and you can see a long list of Chinese restaurants in the Gold Coast at
http://www.coastshop.com.au/restaurants/rest_chinese.htm
Tourism in the Gold Coast is big business and more and more Chinese tourists are heading to the Gold Coast. Very recently, a Chinese film crew arrived at the Gold Coast to film two Chinese travel documentaries and were warmly welcomed by the Tourism Minister, Margaret Keech. According to Mrs. Keech, China is now the Gold Coast's third largest source of international tourist arrivals and represents more than 10 per cent of all visitors to the coast.
Early this year, Mrs Keech welcomed another big contingent, up to 6000 of Chinese Amway delegates for a conference in the Gold Coast. This was the largest group of people from a single country to visit the Gold Coast at one time, said Mrs. Keech.
All this is no big surprise, for there is much to offer in the Gold Coast. To me, the greatest attraction of the Gold Coast is the Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral reef system made up of approximately 3,000 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for 2,600 kilometres. It is, to me, a great natural wonder. My only hope is that us human do not destroy it through our activities by the time I get a chance to visit it. Then there are the wonderful beach fronts and sea sports.
But the Gold Coast is not only about reefs, scuba diving, sea sports, etc. What are your interests? Action and adventure, arts and cultural stuff, fine dining, shopping, touring, fringe activities, animals, wildlife and nature, sport and recreation, theme parks and attractions, relaxation, nightlife and entertainment? The Gold Coast have them all.
Superbike enthusiast? How about a Harley Davidson tour along winding mountain roads? Or perhaps you may be more interested in four wheels with racing-style experiences on specialist tracks. If you want fast kart racing, the Gold Coast can offer you that. Or perhaps go for a ride on the helicopter or hot air balloon and come back down to earth with a sky dive or parasail. Go abseiling, kite surfing or even bungee jumping if you can take the frightful free fall.
If action and action is not your cup of tea, you can listen to a big band on a Sunday afternoon, be serenaded by jazz, visit art galleries like the Conrad Jupiters Arts Prize, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, visit museums like the Metre Maid Museum. Still remember the Holden cars? There is a museum for the Holden cars. There are blues concerts, opera, film festivals year round.
Like to dine out? You should try the locally bred Wagyu beef. There are also soft-shell crabs, goat cheese and award-winning boutique wines.
Brought your wife along? You probably can't escape the some of Australia’s largest shopping complexes and duty free stores in the Gold Coasts which are located at northern suburbs like the Biggera Waters, Sanctuary Cove, Runaway Bay, Main Beach, Southport, Surfers Paradise, Broadbeach, Bundall, Burleigh Heads, Robina, Tweed and Coolangatta. For something more exotic, go for the Surfers Paradise’s night markets or go for the 500 plus stalls at Carrara Markets weekends. Don't forget the Parklands Produce and Craft Markets and a many other markets offering fresh fruit, vegetables and preserves in quaint towns and villages. If what you want are antiques, paintings and pottery, try Tamborine’s Gallery Walk. For hand-made crafts, go to the Tweed rural townships.
Interested in Chinese churches? There is the Gold Coast Chinese Christian Church. They have a website at:
http://www.gcccc.org.au/
I can go on and on, but better you go see for yourself. But don't go sleep on the street. Make sure you book your accommodation via online hotel booking sites like CheaperThanHotels online booking. For hotels in the Gold Coast, you will have to go to hotels in gold coast.
If you are a surfer junkie, stay close to surfers' hangout by booking hotels in surfers paradise.
The Gold Coast is not that far from my country, but neither is it very near. If I have to fly all the way to visit the Gold Coast, I might as well hop over to Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. Some call Adelaide the city of festival for it is famous for its Adelaide Festival of Arts as well as other festivals like the Fringe Festival, Adelaide Film Festival, Adelaide Festival of Ideas, Adelaide Writers' Week, and the Feast Festival plus others. There is now the famous WOMADelaide, an annual world music and dance festival first held in 1992. It is now held annually in the Botanic Park, Adelaide, and is part of the Womad series of music festivals. The Womad events feature all sorts of music, arts and dance to encourage people to experience the music of cultures other than their own to help develop global understanding. I will of course book my accommodation online first, most likely via hotels in Adelaide
Now if my former colleague, a Chinese, who have migrated to Perth, ever get wind of me landing on Australian soil but never pay him a visit, he will never forgive me. But with his large family, it will be too much for me to expect to go cheapskate and squat in his adobe, so I will have to depend on Perth hotels. That would probably be my last destination in Australia for by that time, I probably would have exhausted most of my Australian currencies.
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