The early history of Chinese Australians had involved significant immigration from villages of the Pearl River Delta in Southern China. Less well known are the kind of society Chinese Australians came from, the families they left behind and what their intentions were in coming. Many Chinese were lured to Australia by the gold rush (since the mid-19th century, Australia was dubbed the New Gold Mountain after those in North America), sent money to their families in the villages, regularly visited their families and retired to the village after years working as a Sydney market gardener, Cairns shopkeeper or Melbourne cabinet maker. As with many overseas Chinese groups the world over, early Chinese immigrants to Australia established Chinatowns in several major cities, such as in Sydney (China