Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
63m-long, 200kg Millennium Dragon that bends around the building; in full flight it needs
eight people just to hold up the dragon's head alone.
Here you'll find an interesting mix of Chinese and Asian restaurants; come here for
yum cha (dim sum) or explore its attendant laneways for late-night dumplings or cock-
tails. Chinatown also hosts the city's vibrant Chinese New Year celebrations in January or
February.
Royal Arcade
HISTORIC BUILDING
(
www.royalarcade.com.au
;
335 Bourke St Mall; 86, 96)
This Parisian-style shopping arcade was
built between 1869 and 1870 and is Melbourne's oldest; the upper walls retain much of
the original 19th-century detail. The black-and-white chequered path leads to the mytho-
logical figures of giant brothers Gog and Magog, perched with hammers atop the arched
exit to Little Collins St. They've been striking the hour here since 1892. The businesses
within are an interesting mix of the classy and the common.
State Library of Victoria
LIBRARY
( 03-8664 7000;
www.slv.vic.gov.au
; 328 Swanston St; 10am-9pm Mon-Thu, to 6pm Fri-Sun; 1, 3, 5, 6, 8,
16, 64, 67, 72, Melbourne Central)
A big player in Melbourne's achievement of being named
Unesco City of Literature in 2008, the State Library has been at the forefront of Mel-
bourne's literary scene since it opened in 1854. With more than two million topics in its
collection, it's a great place to browse. Its epicentre, the octagonal
La Trobe Reading Room
,
was completed in 1913; its reinforced-concrete dome was the largest of its kind in the
world and its natural light illuminates the ornate plasterwork and the studious Melbourne
writers who come here to pen their works.
The library has several exhibitions on display, providing a fascinating story to Mel-
bourne's history. Its most notable item is
Ned Kelly's armour
, the get-up of Australia's most
infamous bushranger: a menacing helmet cobbled together from a plough with a slit cut
out for the eyes, and riddled with bullet dents. There's also numerous original Burke and
Wills memorabilia and John Batman's controversial land treaty (read: land grab), in which
he's believed to have forged signatures of the Wurundjeri people.
Bibliophiles won't want to miss the
Mirror of the World
exhibition, with a weird, won-
derful collection of topics through the ages, from a 4000-year-old tax receipt and rare first
editions to Peter Carey's laptop and Australian comic books (bet you never heard of Pan-
