Travel Channel

Chinese New Year

Ring It In!

Little Bourke Street
(Between Flinders and Exhibition streets)
Melbourne, VIC 3000

Nearest Train: Parliament or Flinders Street train stations; trams 11, 12, 86

Phone: +61 (0)3 9857 7798

Fax: +61 (0)3 9857 7798

Sound, colour, action! As Chinese communities world-wide celebrate the New Year, the narrow streets of Melbourne's Chinatown host a claustrophobic street party, complete with firecrackers, huge, milling crowds and a procession of traditional Chinese drummers and lion dancers. The highlight of the day is the procession of Dai Loong, the world's longest and one of its oldest imperial dragons. Normally kept in the Chinese Museum, it emerges for one day only to dance through the streets. The area's many Chinese restaurants are packed with families celebrating the New Year.