Chinatown, Adelaide, Bezoekersgids & wat te doen in de buurt

Adelaide's Chinatown on Moonta Street is one of the city's most vibrant pockets, but its roots go much deeper than the pagoda-style roofs and red lanterns you see today.

The Chinese connection to South Australia began in 1847, when the first dozen Chinese labourers arrived from Singapore to work as indentured shepherds. Many more followed in the 1850s, disembarking at South Australian ports before travelling overland to the Victorian goldfields, because Victoria had imposed immigration restrictions that South Australia hadn't.

The Chinatown you see now, centred on Moonta Street near the Central Market, grew primarily in the 1970s and 1980s with waves of migrants from Vietnam and Southeast Asia. Chinese market gardeners had long sold their produce at the Central Market, and this gradually sparked the growth of Asian food shops, grocery stores, and restaurants in the surrounding streets.

Today, Moonta Street is marked by paifang (traditional Chinese archways) at each entrance, guarded by Chinese lion statues donated jointly by the Adelaide City Council and the Chinese government. Since 2003, Chinatown has hosted Adelaide's official Lunar New Year celebrations, which expanded in 2013 to include Gouger Street as well.

Whether you're after dumplings, groceries, or just a colourful walk, Chinatown delivers. And if you're on a Questo quest through Adelaide, the cultural details here, from the lion statues to the archways, might feature in one of your challenges.