Chinatown is a precinct in

Fortitude Valley Fortitude Valley (often called "The Valley" by local residents) is an inner suburb of the City of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. In the , Fortitude Valley had a population of 9,708 people. The suburb features two pedestr ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, Australia. It is centered on Chinatown Mall, a

pedestrian street Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town reserved for pedestrian-only use and in whi ...

which occupies all of Duncan Street. The Mall runs parallel to

Brunswick Street Mall Brunswick Street Mall is a Pedestrian zone, pedestrian mall in Fortitude Valley, Queensland, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Australia. The Mall occupies all of Brunswick Street, Brisbane, Brunswick Street between Wickham Street and Ann Street, Bris ...

, and connects Wickham Street and Ann Street. The precinct is the location of Chinese restaurants and shops, and is the venue for events including

Chinese New Year Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar and solar Chinese calendar. In Sinophone, Chinese and other East Asian cultures, the festival is commonly r ...

and Valley Fiesta. Street signs in the area are written in both English and

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

. It is also home to many restaurants offering Chinese, Korean, Indonesian, Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese cuisines. Its pan-Asian nature is also emphasized through the hosting of many Asian festivals including the annual Indian festival,

Diwali Diwali (), Dewali, Divali, or Deepavali ( IAST: ''dīpāvalī''), also known as the Festival of Lights, related to Jain Diwali, Bandi Chhor Divas, Tihar, Swanti, Sohrai, and Bandna, is a religious celebration in Indian religions. It is ...

. Chinatown's popularity with

Chinese Australian Chinese Australians () are Australians of Chinese ancestry. Chinese Australians are one of the largest groups within the global Chinese diaspora, and are the largest Asian Australian community. Per capita, Australia has more people of Chinese ...

s has declined in the past two decades, and Sunnybank is instead seen as the hub of Chinese culture in Brisbane.

History

Chinatown Mall was officially opened by Lord Mayor Sallyanne Atkinson on 29 January 1987, the first day of the Year of the

Rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...

. The Mall was designed by architects and engineers from

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

, and was intended to reflect

Tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...

architecture. In 1995 part of

Jackie Chan's First Strike ''Police Story 4: First Strike'' (), also known as ''First Strike'' or ''Jackie Chan's First Strike'', is a 1996 Hong Kong action comedy film directed and co-written by Stanley Tong, and starring Jackie Chan, Jackson Lou, Annie Wu, Bill Tung, ...

(1996) was shot in the Mall. The scene featured a car chase and an explosion. The Mall's pagoda was destroyed during filming and subsequently rebuilt. Brisbane City Council began a renovation of Chinatown Mall in 2009. The project, which was designed by Urbis, cost $8,000,000. The Mall was supposed to be finished by September 2009 but was delayed, reopening on 14 February 2010. Chinatown Mall was the original setting of the infamous

Democracy Manifest "Democracy Manifest" (also known as "Succulent Chinese Meal", among other names) is an October 1991 Australian news segment video by reporter Chris Reason. It is "one of Australia's most viral videos", according to Sportsbet. ''The Guardian'', ...

internet meme.

References

External links

{{Coord, 27, 27, 31.14, S, 153, 2, 1.49, E, scale:391_type:landmark_region:AU, display=title Asian-Australian culture in Queensland Buildings and structures in Brisbane

Tourist attractions in Brisbane 1987 establishments in Australia

History

See also

References

External links