Fleeing violence, famine, and poverty in their homeland, tens of thousands of Chinese migrants travelled to Australia in the 1850s, bound for the Ballarat goldfields.
When the flow of Chinese migrants into the state was met with growing xenophobic outrage, the Victorian government responded with a 10-pound tax per person arriving at its ports.
Soon after migrants disembarked from ships in Adelaide and Sydney before making the journey to Victoria, but it wasn't long before ship captains decided the best docking point was the small port of Robe, close to the South Australian and Victorian border.
For many passengers, their hardships would only continue and some would not survive the gruelling 500-kilometre trek from Robe to the Victorian goldfields.
Troubles in the 'Old World'
Museums Association historian Anna Kyi said during the middle of the 19th century China was in turmoil.
"For many, the appeal of gold seeking at this time was fuelled by the problems of the 'Old World,'" Ms Kyi said.
"In China, conflict such as the Opium Wars and the Taiping Rebellion created socio-economic and political instability, while overpopulation and natural disasters brought about famine and increased poverty."
Exotic and exploited
Between 1857 and 1863 it's estimated more than 17,000 Chinese migrants walked from the seaside town of Robe, home to about 200 residents, to the goldfields.
To the white colonists and local Indigenous people, the Chinese migrants were an exotic sight, walking in single file in groups of up to 700 across Western Victoria.
They would carry twin bags or baskets of belongings on a long pole, balancing the weight of the bags with a distinctive gait.
Through muddy winters and harsh summers, the trek lasted almost five weeks.
Ms Kyi said representatives for the Chinese migrants pushed for the tax to be overturned, but to no avail, and with dire consequences.
"Some of the petitions that the Chinese presented against the Chinese immigration poll tax indicate that the journey, which most undertook by foot, was arduous and after arriving on the goldfields many suffered ill-health, while others died along the way," Ms Kyi said.
During the trek, the travellers endured starvation, sickness, and discrimination from townspeople that would not allow them to set up camp.
Some would be exploited or blackmailed into work at the hands of guides or the bullock teams transporting goods from town to town.
A few found opportunities to settle down and work along the way, such as the ones who founded the town of Ararat – the only Australian town to be founded by Chinese migrants.
Along the way, walkers dug wells, planted gardens and marked routes to aid future migrants on their journey.
Ballarat's rich Chinese-Australian history
At its peak in 1859, the Chinese population in Victoria reached 46,000.
About one in five of the total male population in the Victorian mining towns in this period were Chinese.
The city of Ballarat has a rich Chinese-Australian history that dates back to before the gold rush era.
Chinese Australian Cultural Society of Ballarat's (CACSB) president and a descendant of a Chinese migrant who made the trek, Charles Zhang, said the trek was an untold piece of Australia's history.
"Even before the gold rush period, some Chinese were already in Ballarat, and this story, this history hasn't been told enough and not many people know about it," Mr Zhang said.
From the early 1850s, Chinese diggers arrived at the goldfields in large numbers, mostly from an area known as Sze Yap in the province of Canton.
As news reached their families and friends back home, more and more people came to try their luck.
In two years, the number of Chinese migrants on the Ballarat diggings almost doubled from 5,000 in 1856 to 9,000 in 1858.
"In most cases, they were treated very badly," Mr Zhang said.
"The Chinese had no rights."
The re-enactment
In 2017, Mr Zhang and his son Oscar re-enacted the historical trek from Robe to Ballarat.
On May 6, with volunteers from the Chinese Community Council of Australia, Victoria Chapter (CCCAV) and walked eastwards from Robe through Lake Hawdon, Penola, Casterton, Coleraine, Hamilton, Dunkeld, Skipton, Linton, Smythesdale and Ballarat.
"I did the walk because I wanted to experience how those Chinese felt when walked that road," Mr Zhang said.
"Obviously they were not fortunate like I was.
"I had people supporting me, I had modern technology [like] mobile phones to help me find directions, I had money to buy food.
"But those Chinese migrants, they didn't."
Mr Zhang and his team arrived on the steps of Victorian parliament house on May 25, 2017, where Premier Daniel Andrews made a formal apology to Chinese Australians for the discriminatory policy decisions made by the Victorian government in the 1850s.
Mr Zhang said the story of Chinese Australians was an integral part of the country's history that needed to shared and preserved.
"I think that nowadays it's a far better environment in Ballarat compared to 150 or 160 years ago during the gold rush," Mr Zhang said.
