The Fifth Lap

  THE FIFTH LAP The Mosaics of a pink lake Previous:  Digging the Gold Digging Past (iii) Photo Album:  The Mosaics of a pink lake After learning a fair bit more than expected of the history of the gold rush town of Bendigo and its Chinese heritage, it comes the time to throw a stick into the air.  On the ground, it pointed at the northwest direction....so that was that. We headed out on a cold sunny morning, just about 10-15 Kms later, we saw the brown road sign..."The Great Stupa". What is that ?!  My curiosity went overtime!  I have only seen stupas in Nepal, a large Buddhist temple common on the Himalayas.  Is there a pocket of Nepalese or Tibetan settlement? We decided to be nosy, invited by the brown road sign, which are for tourist attractions.  However, it was too early, the gates were closed.  So we parked up, and approached a group gathering around the coffee shop, thinking that they a...

  THE FIFTH LAP Digging the Gold Digging Past (iii) Previous:  Digging the Gold Digging Past (ii) Photo Album:  Digging the Gold Digging Past (iii) First it was San Francisco ( "Old Golden Mountain" ), and then there was Bendigo ("Big Golden Mountain") as far as "Golden Mountains" are concerned, that's what we learned in our childhood folklores in Hong Kong about the "Golden Mountain Uncles" who had found wealth overseas.  At least we thought they all struck it rich !  Did they?! Not far from the center of Bendigo, we found the Chinese Association of Bendigo, which has a museum next to a Chinese Garden, could it be the place to provide some insights to the history of Chinese gold diggers?  Chinese, mainly peasants, like many other nationalities, poured into Bendigo, as well as other major gold rush regions ( Victorian Highlands, Ballarat etc. and as far as Far North Queensland ).  They left a remarkable and positive heritage, in spi...