I have been organising this conference for most of this year. Three years ago, I first pitched this idea to the Chung Wah Society as part of a series of possible events to commemorate 150 years of Chinese settlement in the Northern Territory. The Covid pandemic had disrupted the conference cycle, but this provided the opportunity to team up with CHINA Inc.

In the end, 98 people registered for the Conference, which was held over three and a half days from 20 to 23 September. This was the ninth biennial convened by CHINA Inc. and, in part, commemorated 150 years of Chinese settlement in the Northern Territory. This is the largest attendance at a CHINA Inc. conference.

By the way, CHINA Inc. is an acronym for the Queensland-based organisation Chinese Heritage in Northern Australia, and this was the first time its Conference had been held outside Queensland. Attendees ranged from academics to family historians to ordinary people interested in their family or Northern Territory History. Conference papers had to focus on Chinese history and heritage north of the Tropic of Capricorn. Of the 25 papers presented to the Conference, 16 dealt with Darwin and the Northern Territory.

The quality of the presentations was excellent, demonstrating the depth of research by both professional and amateur historians. This is not the place to reveal the presentations; the proceedings of the conference will be published in time, and a promotional video will be ready in a month or so for use by the Museum and CHINA Inc.

But there is more to a conference than academic papers. Many people within the history fraternity are familiar conference participants, but others, including yours truly, only knew each other via email or Zoom and were meeting for the first time. Some people were returning to their family roots, such as the three Pak Poy sisters and their brother, whose grandparents lived here until World War II. As Doug Fong from Broome said: “For many Chinese people in Australia, Darwin is their capital city.”

About 100 people attended the Friday function, where the Lord Mayor, Kon Vatskalis, officially opened the Conference. Allan O’Neil launched his book, Midwives, Merchants and Miners: The Hang Gongs of Darwin and Creswick – An Australian Family. Adam Worrall, Director of the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, opened the Museum’s Research Library. Having received an official welcome from a Larrakia representative, the Chung Wah Lion Dance Troupe entertained the crowd.

On Sunday, conference goers had a choice of two ‘expeditions’. The first was a more sedate ‘hop-on/hop-off’ bus tour of Darwin’s cultural institutions, such as the Military Museum, Aviation Museum, Fanny Bay Gaol and the Museum and Art Gallery. A group of 33 avid expeditioners paid for a tour of the 12-mile Chinese Settlement (near Brocks Creek) and Pine Creek, where Eddy Ah Toy entertained them. All described the tour as a long, hot day but thoroughly enjoyable. Many participants still had the energy to take advantage of the VIP facility at the Mindil Beach Markets to enjoy the food, a quiet drink and the fantastic sunset.

All in all, the Conference was a great success, and the Museum has received many written accolades. While it will take a few months, the publication of the conference proceedings will demonstrate that significant contributions have been made to the historical record of the Chinese people in Northern Australia.