Brisbane Chinatown is a mall located in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is a well known landmark of Chinese culture within the Brisbane community. It was officially opened by the Lord Mayor of Brisbane Sallyanne Atkinson on Thursday, 29 January, 1987 – the first day of Chinese New Year of the Rabbit. Designed by three Chinese architects and three engineers from Guangzhou in China’s Guangdong province and incorporating ornamental structures reflecting China’s ancient Tang Dynasty, Chinatown Mall is regarded as the most authentic in Australia.
With its diversity of business concerns, Chinatown caters towards all members of the public. Centered on a pedestrian mall in Duncan Street (one block from the Brunswick Street mall), it is a successful area, acting as Brisbane’s hub of Asian commercial and cultural activity. To emphasize the cultural success, significance and integration of the area, streets are signed in both Chinese characters and English. There are a wide range of multicultural stores, restaurants and yum cha palaces offering many delightful Asian delicacies. Chinatown mall is also a place of year-round activity hosting festivals, events, touring musicians and dance troupes from Asia.
Chinatown mall is a place of many moods – peace and tranquility, also feasts, firecrackers and fun – it is a major destination for Brisbane residents and tourists. Since opening, it has become a significant landmark in Brisbane and a recognizable focus for Chinese social and commercial activity.
Now, many Chinese-Australian residents including people from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and China have started to drift away from Chinatown and settle around Sunnybank, a suburb located south of the CBD. Sunnybank has one of the highest concentrations of Asian-Australians in Australia and many Asian restaurants, shops and businesses are located there.
In 1996, the mall was used in a scene in the movie Jackie Chan's First Strike. The scene featured a car chase though a shopping mall resulting in an elaborate stunt where by a car smashed though a second floor window into the pagoda thus resulting in a massive explosion. The destroyed pagoda was subsequently rebuilt and remains a feature of Brisbane's Chinatown Mall to this day.
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