Arrowtown Chinese Settlement
Located in Arrowtown area in the Otago region
Introduction
One golden village, two tales. The picturesque preservation of two very different goldrush communities – Chinese and European – in a town that still thrives.Highlights
A visit to this thriving picture-postcard tourist town enables visitors to view both sides of the gold-rush coin: the preserved avenue where wealthy banks and merchants traded in the mid-1800s, and the restored huts on the edge of town that reveal the more modest lifestyles of the Chinese miners.
Tohu Whenua are the places that have shaped Aotearoa New Zealand. Located in stunning landscapes and rich with stories, they offer some of our best heritage experiences.
See more on the Tohu Whenua website.
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Image gallery
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Buildings at Arrowtown Chinese Settlement Image: Benhi Dixon | Creative Commons
![Buildings at Arrowtown Chinese Settlement.]( "Buildings at Arrowtown Chinese Settlement.")
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Arrowtown Chinese Settlement Image: Floyd Wilde | Creative Commons
![Building in the Arrowtown Chinese Settlement.]( "Building in the Arrowtown Chinese Settlement.")
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Arrowtown Chinese Settlement Image: Photos_by_Angela | Creative Commons
![Arrowtown Chinese Settlement.]( "Arrowtown Chinese Settlement.")
Arrowtown's tree-lined main street provides calendar images of autumn-gold colour that go around the world. In the middle of the 19th century the gold was the real thing, and everyone was rushing to find it. The cottages and buildings in the historic Buckingham Street precinct represent the original core of economic activity within the town.
Chinese gold-miners also flocked to this area and in 1874 there were 3,564 Chinese living in Otago. In Arrowtown, the Chinese were forced to live in huts along isolated gullies on the banks of Bush Creek at the edge of town. Many of the huts have been restored, offering visitors the chance to step back into that 'golden' era and see up-close the toil and modest living conditions of the 'other half' in this prosperous town.
Take a short walk around this partially restored and well interpreted Chinese settlement from the 1880s. Kids will be fascinated with the old huts and what life was like.
Arrowtown Chinese Settlement is off Buckingham Street in Arrowtown.
Contacts
| Whakatipu-wai-Māori / Queenstown Visitor Centre | |
| Phone: | +64 3 442 7935 |
| Fax: | +64 4 471 1117 |
| Email: | queenstownvc@doc.govt.nz |
| Address: |
50 Stanley Street Queenstown 9300 |
| Postal Address: |
PO Box 811 Queenstown 9348 |
| Full office details | |