Confucius Institute

Language and culture

Chinese garden water feature

Chinese culture and people in the NT

The Northern Territory Chinese community dates back to the late 1870s, when Chinese migrants first settled here during the gold rush era. Since then, the Chinese community has grown, with Chinese people coming from many different parts of Asia. Currently, approximately three per cent of the NT population is of Chinese descent.

The development of trade, cultural and sporting links has been influenced by the strong and enduring links between the Darwin Hakka speaking community and Meizhou in southeast China.

A number of Chinese associations have been established in the Northern Territory:

  • Chung Wah Society
  • the Hakka Association
  • the Chinese Language and Culture Centre
  • the Cantonese Opera Association
  • the Australia-China Friendship Association
  • the Chinese East Timorese Association
  • the Hong Kong Club.

These associations organise Chinese festivals and events during the year, such as dragon boat racing, Chinese New Year and Moon festivals, Chinese opera etc.

Anhui sister province relationship with the NT
Anhui Province landscape

Anhui province in south central China has a sister province relationship with the Northern Territory.

Anhui Normal University, one of the partner universities in the Charles Darwin University Confucius Institute, is located in Wuhu and has signed an MOU with Charles Darwin University to collaborate in staff and student exchanges, education and research.

CDU has established relationships with key universities in Anhui, e.g. Anhui University, Anhui Agricultural University and Hefei Normal University.

Sister cities - Darwin and Haikou
Chinese garden

The capital city of Hainan island enjoys an active sister city relationship with Darwin through the Darwin Chamber of Commerce and the Haikou Foreign and Overseas Affairs office.

Hainan University, one of the partner universities in the CDU Confucius Institute, is located in Haikou and shares common education and research interests with Charles Darwin University based on shared remote geographic location of national economic significance in mining, tourism, environmental sustainability, regional development and indigenous cultures.