Golden Dragon Museum And Yi Yuan Gardens

Bendigo has a big Chinese population and a proud cultural history related to them. The Chinese came en masse to Bendigo during the gold rush in the 1850s, stayed and raised families. The museum and garden celebrates their history.

An elaborate pagoda in the beautiful garden.

Another look at the architecture and flora in the garden. A typical home tea service.

A wax figure of Dr Sun Yat-sen.

The wax hand of Dr Sun Yat-sen. A little creepy. Chinese laborer.

The main hall features an elaborate, almost endless parade dragon.

The Fantastical Variety Of Chinese Temple Offerings

Chinese followers of Buddhism love to burn things at their temples. There's usually a round incinerator at a temple complex and the basic item to burn is yellow prayer paper. For many Chinese, making a burn offering tailored to a loved ancestor is the smallest gesture they can do. The thought is: grandpa needs things in his afterlife and you need to provide them.

Provide what? Anything your ancestor might need and/or have enjoyed. Well, you can't just burn an SUV. What to do? No worries, where there is a market, there are providers. Behold the paper offering store.

That's right, anything you can imagine has been reproduced in paper. Cheaper than the original thing, obviously ripe for burning. Let's start with something basic. Favorite shirt? Heap o' patterns available.

Going bigger. How about a nice bicycle or a whole house? Buy it, burn it!

Sportin' fancy shoes is big, obviously in the afterlife you gotta be looking good strutting around heaven.

More footwear, some blingy sandals for the ladies. And then there are the kits. Think boxes filled with related items. Maybe kitchen supplies. Here you have a gambler's starter kit. Win some godly favors for the family!

No idea is too esoteric. Obviously, after playing hard at the poker table in your white loafers, you slink home and get ready for bed. You need those nice toiletries. Maybe you need teeth. It will be offered. The best detail, the purposely copyright jilting brand name misspellings and alterations.

What a great world, where Chinese holy offerings can have something in common with a trashy American kids diversion from the 1970s: Wacky Packages.

A Chinese Graveyard In Miri

In contrast to the next door Islamic graveyard, the Chinese cemetery is a festival. All colorful tiles, rounded tombs, pictures, murals, the kitchen sink from beyond.

OK, maybe not much thought was put into the layout of the place. Just put that body anywhere you find a space.



Typical family plot, snazzy. Graves frequently have portraits of their inhabitants.

Family plot, study in blue. With random side grave.

Details of tile work. Go for ancient religious depictions of maybe a pastoral scene that does not exist in China (or Malaysia).

Another look at the colorful plots.

Chinese Dioramas, Part Two

Continuing the diorama tour of Chinese life in Bangkok at the Golden Buddha Temple.

Scoring at the jewelry store.

The hangout. At the dry goods market, the hard sell.

Attending a Buddhist temple.

At the hospital, doling out medicine and the waiting room.

Back at the wedding, the happy couple.

Chinese Dioramas, Part One

The Golden Buddha Temple in Bangkok's Chinatown has a fantastic collection of dioramas that depict what the neighborhood looked like way back in the day. Just a bunch of scenes of the daily life of the locals. Sublime.

Wedding.

The candy store vendor. At the post office.

School recess.

Reading and gabbing about the Chinese newspapers. Ladies out shopping.

Shopping and going to temple.

The Chinese Immigrant At The Golden Buddha Temple

The Golden Buddha Temple in Bangkok's Chinatown has a museum section devoted to the hard-working life of Chinese immigrants. Bangkok provided trade opportunities for the poor and immigrants, particularly from China. They arrived in droves during the 1800s.

Fresh off the boat. Chinese labor on the docks.

You can't work without a good meal, street food always plentiful.

The dry goods food store.

Other trades settled in Bangkok, producing baskets and classic Chinese porcelain.

Back to the docks, more cargo to haul.

The Architecture Of Kota Kinabalu

Kota Kinabalu has a combination Miami Beach and Chinese merchant vibe to it, which makes sense, considering its location. The city is right on the water and generations of Chinese who arrived on the trade routes running through Borneo.

The Chinese traditional look, outdoor Chinese cafes.

The Miami Beach look, brightly-painted concrete puff pieces from the 1960s, 1970s. Bling!

Getting gritty, more mundane tropical architecture, still brightly painted.

Back to Chinese, the humble barber with the simple list of services. You've arrived, The Store.

Some nice mid-century modern lines to many of the buildings.

Drug Elimination Museum, The Opium War Edition

To show that fighting the scourge of drugs has been a long tradition in Myanmar, the military included a little historical perspective in the museum. Bring on the opium wars of the late 1800's.

The king in his court, plotting.

The British are out for blood, and getting it, against the Chinese.

The Chinese are tough, though, and scoring their own amount of damage.

Still, the British fight on. And on. It's looking like WWE, circa 1890.

A fiery, bloody mess.