Ararat is, by local account, the only town in Australia founded by Chinese miners — arrivals of the 1850s gold rushes who mostly landed at Robe in South Australia to sidestep a poll tax Victoria had placed on Chinese immigrants, then walked several hundred kilometres inland to the goldfields. Gum San, on Lambert Street, was built more than two decades ago by Ararat residents working with the local council, its two-storey form following the principles of Southern Chinese architecture and feng shui beneath a tiled roof. The building sits over the original Canton Lead mine tunnel, uncovered during construction and now part of the display, alongside audio-visual exhibits, gold-panning demonstrations and a replica gold tank tracing the miners' trek and the discrimination they faced. It has been kept open largely through volunteer effort, run today by the Friends of Gum San on ticket and donation income. Open Thursday to Sunday, 10am to 3pm, plus public holidays and Victorian school holidays — a considered stop for anyone tracing the Grampians' gold-era history.
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