Far North Queensland Chinese Heritage Trail

Cairns is the gateway to the World Heritage listed Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics rainforests. Amongst the early settlers of the region were many Chinese who came to Cairns and Cooktown in the mid-1870s, heading to the Hodgkinson goldfields, located west of Cairns and Cooktown. After the alluvial gold ran out, many Chinese turned to farming. The Chinese were also involved in b?che de mer (sea cucumber) harvesting and processing. Picturesque Lizard Island, a short flight from Cairns, has stone remnants from these operations. The Cairns and District Chinese Association holds annual Chinese New Year celebrations in Grafton Street - Cairns Chinatown - once a bustling assortment of shops, dwellings and two temples. Travel north from Cairns, via Port Douglas to Cooktown. Cooktown once had a large Chinese population, with a temple located on Adelaide Street. Temple artefacts are now displayed at the James Cook Historical Museum, while the cemetery includes a Chinese shrine. The Atherton Tableland circuit will take you to the Hou Wang in Atherton, through farmlands where the Chinese grew maize and down to Innisfail where the Chinese worked in the sugar and banana industries and where you can see the Lit Sing Gung Temple....