90 minutes north of Melbourne in Victoria State, this city of over 80,000 people developed in the mid-19th century. Before 1850, it had only 200 inhabitants but at the end of the 1950s, it welcomed more than 20 000. Why? Why? Because in 1851, Margaret and Julia found gold in the river. The gold may have gone but the good times continue in the elegant, historic and regional centre of Bendigo. Its large opulent buildings, Chinese heritage and living museums are a visible legacy of the gold rush of the 1850s and 1860s that transformed the region. There are many activities, accessible to young and old. The city is developing tourism; in addition to walking around this superb town, you will have a choice of entertainment: from pottery workshops to wine tasting in the region. The town hall invited us to visit their town hall (which can be visited once or twice a week) and a company invited us to discover what we wanted most: the visit of the mine, the tramway and the discovery of the Chinese temple! In the 1880s Bendigo sat on the richest gold fields in the world, a wealth that has financed many impressive buildings, including the Bendigo Town Hall, the recently restored Alexandra Fountain, the magnificent old post office, the art gallery and the courts. Visit them on a walk through the wide boulevards and tree-lined streets, where you half expect to see the ladies in huge skirts and the prospectors smoking their pipes. Take a historical tour on the Bendigo talking tramway, look at Australian art dating back to 1850 or browse the many antique shops. You can even put on a hard hat and descend the equivalent of three floors into a mine shaft on a guided tour. Then take it easy with a pint of beer at the Shamrock Hotel Bar, a hotel that has become increasingly sumptuous with each of its three renovations. In Bendigo, you will discover the history of the gold rush, but you can also explore an important Chinese immigration past. Visit the Golden Dragon Museum to learn more about the tens of thousands of Chinese miners who flocked to the area during the gold rush, then soak up the serenity in the classic gardens. You can visit the original 1860 Joss House Temple, explore Australia's largest Chinese cemetery or see the remains of excavations made by Chinese immigrants. The Easter Parade festivities, which take place every year, will enthuse you; you will see the oldest and longest imperial dragon in the world, with bright colours, dancing in the city, with undulating movements. Long before the arrival of the Chinese and Europeans, the Jarra Jarra people occupied these lands where gold was discovered. You can celebrate with the descendants of this aboriginal tribe during the NAIDOC week festivities in Bendigo. You can also visit the rocky wells of Jarra Jarra, along the Eureka Reef walking trail.