When we talk about culture, we are using a term to describe ourselves both individually and collectively. It helps us to define and understand our identity within the greater world outside of ourselves. As a general rule of thumb, culture can be defined as including language, customs, history, food, religion, clothing, the arts, recreation and even the environment to which we belong. Certainly, culture can be a lot more than this. It does show us, on a global scale, the great diversity of human experience. This book is intended to be a snapshot of the people who have made Bendigo home, both past and present. To give a detailed account of every culture ever present in Bendigo would run into a multi-volume work! The idea for a multicultural history of Bendigo and the title came from Dr Arthur Chiang. All information presented and opinions expressed are mine and may not necessarily be endorsed by the good doctor.