I've been to Melbourne many times but never visited this museum. I enjoyed the visit, it was very interesting and loved the exhibits and the history. I particularly enjoyed the basement and the realistic atmosphere and sound effects.

Came here in June of 2018. I had a lunch appointment at Chinatown with some family and had two hours to kill before the meeting. Found this museum somewhere in Chinatown of Melbourne City.

At the entry after paying the entrance fee, the staff behind the counter will explain the best way to visit their museum, starting from the top floor (which is on level 4) and make your way down to the basement. There is a single lift/elevator that will take you up to the fourth floor.

Starting at the 4th floor you will see the very early history of the chinese migrants who first arrived in Australia. It's basically about the origins of Chinese Australians and where they came from. There is even a video of testimonies from the late 1990s to present of Chinese immigrants who grew up in Australia which I found quite interesting. I recommend sitting down and spending some there if you interested.

Moving to the 3rd floor is the Han Dynasty exhibition which has some interesting display including an ancient seisomograph. You should check it out. On the second floor are some interesting art work and also where the toilet is (as well as the admin office)

The first floor where we came in is where the 'dragon's' are displayed. And we safe this for last. We proceeded to the basement which was very well layed out... as in the props bringing back what Chinatown must have looked like over a century ago! And then leads up to a walkway where you see one of the 'longest' dragon usually used for the Chinese New Festival ( I was told they bring them out twice a year)

All in all it was very enjoyable visit and I spent nearly 2 hours there.

The museum staff were really lovely, advising us to catch the elevator up and walk down to each level to see the exhibits. There was quite a lot to see and the history of the Chinese is very interesting to me as my great, great grandfather came from Canton. I loved the gold mine exhibit and of course the large dragon but I found the information on Chinese families very interesting, the photos were fascinating. Well worth a visit if you are interested in history.