Chinatown Sydney

        Sydney's Chinatown is an urban locality in the southern part of the Sydney central

business district, in New South Wales, Australia. It is located in Haymarket, between 

Central Station and Darling Harbour. It is part of the local government area of the City

of Sydney and is Australia's largest Chinatown.

    The current location is the third in Sydney to be known as Chinatown.

    In the late 19th century, it was located in the Rocks area of Sydney and later moved to

the area near Market Street at Darling Harbour.

    By the 1920s, it began to be established in its current location. Chinatown is centred on 

Dixon Street, a pedestrian street mall with many Chinese restaurants, and with a Paifang at

each end.

     At the eastern side, running parallel with Dixon Street, are Sussex Street, which has a

number of shops, and George Street, one of Sydney's main thoroughfares.

      At the eastern end of Chinatown, at the corner of George Street and Hay Street, there is

a sculpture made from a dead tree trunk; created by artist Lin Li in 1999 and named Golden

Water Mouth, it was said by its instigators to bring good fortune to the Chinese community.

Other streets and lanes within Sydney's Chinatown include Factory Street, Goulburn Street, 

Little Hay Street, Kimber Lane and Thomas Street.

      At the southern side of Chinatown, next to Hay Street, a large complex called Market City 

has been built, behind the walls retained from the site's old produce markets. It contains a

modern shopping centre, restaurants (including an 800+ seat Yum Cha Restaurant called The

Eight Modern Chinese Restaurant), boutique shops, City Amusements (a large indoor entertain-

ment complex), and the Haymarket Paddy's Markets, a Wednesday-to-Sunday produce and flea

market, as well as a large residential high-rise building called the Peak Apartments.

      Unlike the Chinatowns in some other countries, Sydney's Chinatown has been relatively free

of crime and hygiene issues. However, since there are many skyscrapers in Sydney, there are

some concerns within the Chinese community about the building height restrictions imposed

by the image-conscious local government authorities.

                                                                  ------  reprint news from China Royal Gardens