The night market in Chinatown is held every Friday and Saturday night from 4 pm-10 pm on Heffernan lane. The night market is a unique and representative culture in China, and its earliest origin comes from Tang Dynasty. Many of the stalls and food supplies in this night market come from restaurants in Chinatown. Bryan yang, the founder of the night market, said that the purpose of the night market is to show Chinese food culture to people from different countries while supporting the economic situation of Chinatown restaurants. Due to the one-year epidemic, many restaurants are facing economic threats. This photo was taken on Friday, May 21, 2021.
Chinatown is a distinctive and well-known area of Melbourne which dates back to the gold rush days of the 1850s. Chinatown’s essential character and restaurants are along Little Bourke Street with alleys that link the area to Bourke Street and Lonsdale Street. This is the main dissemination place of Chinese food and traditional culture. The gate adopts Chinese classical art architecture, and the red spherical ornament is a symbol of beautiful meaning. It is called lantern in China. Photo taken on May 21, 2021 Melbourne.
ZhengDou is a Cantonese restaurant that also participating in this night market in Chinatown. They provide shrimp dumplings, rice noodles, and pork ribs for night market consumers. Cantonese cuisine is called the most popular Chinese food aboard. It originally originated in Guangdong, China. These cuisines are collectively called morning tea locally. A pot of tea and a few snacks can spend a morning. In Guangdong, this is many elderly people's way to spend their mornings. Because most Chinese who immigrated and set up restaurants overseas were from Guangdong, there are many authentic Cantonese restaurants in Chinatown. This photo was taken on June 11, 2021.
Ben Branson standing in front of the billboard to inform tourists that they are doing night market activities. He is the program manager at Hawker Haven in Chinatown. This activies provided free dumplings and BBQ for the night market to let more people know about this restaurant. ‘We have gone through a crisis during the coronavirus period, night marketing is a new marketing strategy for our restaurants. At least from the current situation, it seems that we have done it successfully,’ said Mr Branson. The free food attracted a large number of customers who came into this restaurant hidden in Chinatown. Photo taken on May 21, 2021.
During the coronavirus, many restaurants have also entered a difficult stage in Chinatown. The orders have been greatly reduced due to the long-time lockdown, but the bill and expensive rent always on time. Although the dine-in business had just started picking up again over the past few weeks as restrictions eased, it’s still a big challenge for many restaurants although dine-in business had just started picking up again over the past few weeks as restrictions eased. The number of customers entering the restaurant to eat is not as much as before. Many restaurants seek new business opportunities through night marketing. Photo taken on June 11,2021.
This is the art wall of Chinatown. These bowls were shipped from China in 2018. The bowl is one of the main tableware for Chinese people to eat, which has the mean of reunion. The totem on the bowl is a koi, which in China means wishing people all the best. The ancient Chinese characters on the bowl convey the meaning of hope for a good harvest in the autumn that makes people have enough food. The circle always kind of reunion symbol for China. Photo taken on June 11, 2021.
Chicken skewers are one of the most popular foods in the night market. This traditional cooking method comes from Northeast China. Chicken nuggets and beef nuggets are paired with vegetables, and these eating materials made by grilling. A major feature of the night market is that the back kitchen is moved outside, and buyers can watch the whole cooking process of the food they purchased. People also like to talk to the chef about food while waiting for their food. The night market has gradually become a channel for the spread of food culture. This photo was taken on May 21, 2021.
People from different countries crowded in front of the Chinese Barbeque stall. There also some consumers who take their food and eating them directly. This is one of the interesting features of the night market. It does not very strange that people buy food and enjoy it while standing on the street of the night market. Each independent stall comes from a different restaurant in Chinatown. People can easily eat food from different restaurants by visiting this alley. This approach not only makes tourists feel funny but also brings income to these restaurants at the same time. some of the stalls said that this kind of marketing way relieves their negative economic impact from coronavirus. This photo was taken on May 21, 2021.
Cynthia Huang is a Chinese food blogger on Weibo. This social media platform is similar to Twitter. This is her first time came to this night market for photo shooting and promoting. She recommended that fried noodles are very authentic Chinese taste in this night market. “I am very happy to see that Chinese traditional culture is liked by so many races. Food culture is the easiest place to connect between countries,” Huang said. Mrs Huang also said that she hopes traditional Chinese food will not only appear in Chinatown in the future. Photo was taken on May 21, 2021.
Tea culture is also an important part of Chinese food culture. Cantonese people pay attention to drinking tea first, which is enough to reflect the status of tea culture in Chinese food culture. Chinese tea is divided into different varieties, including Oolong tea, Pu'er tea and black tea. The Chinatown Night Market also launched an event inviting everyone to enjoy tea together. The variety of tea is provided by the Chinatown Tea House for free to customers in the night market. This is also to give everyone a comprehensive understanding of Chinese food culture. This photo was taken on June 11, 2021.
