This article is written by Marion Khoo in Year 9 Aspire Chinese.
On 3rd and 4th November, 20 Varsity College students along with Ms Zhao and Mr Henderson travelled to the city of Melbourne to experience the rich Chinese culture. There, students had the opportunity to visit several famous locations such as the Immigration Museum, Museum of Australian Chinese History and the University of Melbourne.
In the Immigration Museum, students were able to explore the exhibit ‘Becoming You: An incomplete guide’ where they learned about the diversity of gender, orientation, culture and age in Australia as a shared community through 71 Australian coming of age stories.
At the Museum of Australian Chinese History, the students went on a guided tour to explore four different galleries: ‘Finding Gold’ to learn about life on the goldfields for Chinese immigrants, ‘Dragon Gallery’ where students learned about traditional Chinese mythology and symbolism, ‘Han Dynasty’ which presents interesting inventions and culture of Ancient China and ‘One Million Stories’ which provides an insight into Chinese-Australian history.
Finally, students had the opportunity to visit the University of Melbourne to participate in Chinese culture-based activities such as making paper lanterns, dressing up in traditional costumes, making dumplings, spinning red clothes and playing with dragon dance ribbons.
Overall, the students had a wonderful experience learning more about the unique Chinese culture and traditions as well as bonding closer together as a group.
