DOCUMENTARIES

If you are interested in the Bendigo Chinese History, the Golden Dragon Museum has recently produced three DVD documentaries.

Creating a Community Museum

Creating a Community Museum" is a 20-minute history of the development and creation of the Golden Dragon Museum; featuring interviews by those associated with its early history, volunteers who currently work there and performances from the Bendigo Chinese Association.

Creating a Community Museum’ was officially launched by Harry Charalambous, the architect of the Golden Dragon Museum on the 22nd January 2009.

COST: $18

The Story of the Pomelo Tree

The Story of the Pomelo Tree" is a short film exploring the fascinating story of a 100 year-old Pomelo Tree located in Bendigo, Victoria. The tree, originally planted by Gladys Ah Dore, the mother of Russell Jack (Founder - Golden Dragon Museum), and moved in 1990 to make way for the Museum, still thrives today.

Every year, leaves from this tree and its saplings are used to feed the famous dragon, Sun Loong before his performance at the Bendigo Easter Fair Gala Parade. The documentary makes extensive use of archival images of the Pomelo Tree’s unique history in Bendigo and finds the new Pomelo Trees that will feed the dragons of the next generation.

The Story of the Pomelo Tree’ was officially launched by Russell Jack AM, Director, Golden Dragon Museum and President, Bendigo Chinese Association on the 22nd January 2009.

COST: $12

The Easter Parade

Celebrating its 140th year, the 2011 Bendigo Easter Festival is bigger than ever!
During the goldrush of the 1850s, thousands of diggers arrived in Bendigo from all corners of the world. Chinese miners made up a significant portion of arrivals. The legacy of this strong Chinese community lives on today in the Bendigo Chinese Association and the Golden Dragon Museum (celebrating its 20th birthday in the Year of the Rabbit).

The Chinese community has been raising funds for local health services through its activities and the Bendigo Easter Festival since 1857. It is a colourful and cultural array of family orientated events, attracting thousands of visitors to the Bendigo region every Easter weekend. Sun Loong, the world's longest Imperial dragon and the crowd favourite, is a major feature of the festival. In 2011, teams of Lion Dancers visited Bendigo from Darwin, Cairns, Canberra and Melbourne, performing alongside the Bendigo Chinese Association’s internationally renowned Lion Team. There was also a special performance by the Chinese Artists Association of Hong Kong. They performed traditional Cantonese Opera, a particularly poignant visit as the early goldminers also brought out Cantonese opera companies to perform on the goldfields.

Many people vie to carry the precious regalia, and it is a huge logistical exercise with over 1,500 volunteers. It is a great honour to be involved in the Bendigo Chinese Association part of the Easter parade. It is a tradition going back generations for many local families to carry a specific item in the parade and men from several families have the high honour of carrying Sun Loong’s head.

The film highlights the many celebrations held over the weekend, including the Chinese Spring Festival, the Awakening of the Dragon, the Easter Torchlight Parade, the Easter Festival Gala Parade and the Anzac Day ceremony, showing that the Golden Dragon Museum and the Dai Gum San precinct has become the Chinese Cultural Centre of Australia.

COST $18