'''Sydney Chinatown''' and '''Haymarket''' are located in Sydney, in the area between Central Station and Darling Harbour in the city. It is Australia's largest, and oldest Chinatown. The district is full of good value restaurants, cheaper hotels, Internet cafes, pubs, markets, and discount shopping.
Get in
By train
Haymarket and Chinatown are walking distance from either Central or Town Hall stations. Walk north (towards the harbour/city) along George St from Central, or south (away from the harbour/city) along George St from Town Hall. Turn on Hay St. 10-15 minutes.
By light rail or monorail
The Light Rail and monorail both have stops at Haymarket. If you are coming from Pyrmont or the Casino its a good option. If you are coming from the City or Darling Harbour is probably just as quick to walk.
By bus
Buses running from Railway Square north to the City all stop along George St. Get off near Hay St.
Some buses running south from the city up George St stop along George St adjacent to Haymarket. Not all George St buses take this route. Check the details on the stop and check with the driver. You will want to press the button to get off when you see World Square on the left. George St buses leave from Stand C at Circular Quay.
By foot
From Darling Harbour Chinatown is on the southernmost edge. Walk past Tumbalong Park and the Entertainment center. About 20 minutes from Harbourside.
By car
Some streets in the Haymarket area gets extremely congested on weekends and at peak hour. One wrong turn at these times can add 15 minutes to your journey. However, there is plenty of parking in and around the area. Parking in Darling Harbour or the Entertainment Centre carpark is also an option. Parking is around $25 a day in Market City. Look for $15 all day deals on weekends in some of the lots around the south of the area.
See
'''Dixon St'''. Starts in front of the markets on Hay St and runs just over two blocks to Goulburn St in the north. Dixon St is a malled pedestrian area and closed to traffic. It is decorated in traditional Chinese style and is home to many shops and restaurants.
Do
Stroll around the district exploring the colourful Chinese meets Australian culture.
Buy
Paddy's Markets. n Hay St some meters west of George St at the corner of Thomas St. hursday-Sunday 9am-5pm. ttp://www.paddysmarkets.com.au/. A famous, large market place in the Haymarket. Lots of clothing, sunglasses, souvenirs, and food. Probably not too many bargains to be had, however.
World Square. orner of George St and Liverpool St. ttp://www.worldsquare.com.au/. A large shopping precinct on George St, with many specialty stores, including a Sony Store
Chinatown contains a modern shopping center, restaurants, boutique shops, and a cinema complex. The area is particularly famous for its Chinese stores, mainly in Dixon Street, selling imported clothing and homewares, Chinese herbs, and exotic foodstuffs such as pressed duck, Asian greens and dried mushrooms.
Eat
This area has an incredible range of restaurants and is one of Sydney_fs best dining precincts. There are over 60 restaurants and food court stalls around Chinatown and Haymarket, offering many Chinese regional specialities, plus Vietnamese, Thai, Korean, Japanese, Taiwanese and Malaysian cuisines. Many establishments serve the ever popular yum cha, irresistible sweet and savory snacks that are wheeled around on trolleys, generally between 10am and 2pm. As a rule, avoid any restaurant in Chinatown with touts outside begging you to come in - the food is more often than not overpriced and not good. For a complete contrast, visit near by Liverpool Street, where there are some excellent Spanish restaurants.
'''BBQ King''', 18-20 Goulburn St, 9267 2586. Entrees $4.40-8.80, mains $8.80-26. Open 11.30am-2am. As the name suggests, you come here for barbecue, and a lot of people would agree that this place is king. It's old-school, with laminex tables and folding chairs. There may be a queue, but it won't last long, and the great duck is worth the wait. Try the spinach with garlic, too.
'''Lam's Seafood Restaurant''', 35-7 Goulburn St, Haymarket, 9281 2882. Entrees $4-23.80, mains $15 - market price seafood. Open noon-4AM. Quick lunch? Luxurious banquet? You can do both here. Popular with locals, visitors and anyone in-between, Lam's has an extensive menu and staff who know a thing or two about getting the most out of the kitchen.
'''Marigold Citymark''', Levels 4 & 5, 683-9 George St, Haymarket, 9281 3388. Dim sum $2.40-4.60, yum cha specials $5.70. This 800-seat yum cha palace serves lunchtime yum cha daily and has an extensive menu of other dishes. Join the hordes.
'''Golden Century Seafood Restaurant''', 393-99 Sussex St, Haymarket, 9212 3901. Open noon-4am. With lots of fish tanks displaying your nervous-looking dinner, this place is a favorite late-night eating spot for many of Sydney's chefs and hotel workers. The flavors are exotic and engaging, the service fast and slick.
'''Silver Spring''', Level 1, 477 Pitt St, Haymarket, 9211 2232. Entrees $5-15.80, mains $13.80-market price seafood. Open 10AM-3PM (yum cha), 5.30PM-11PM (a la carte). Something of a yum cha mothership on weekends, this place offers a mind-boggling array of dishes from the a la carte menu too. Get a group together and have a feast.
'''Dragon Star Seafood Restaurant''', Level 3, Market City, 9 Hay Street, 9211 8988. Dishes $11 - market price seafood. Open 10AM-5PM (yum cha) daily, 5.30PM-11PM Su-Th, until midnight F, Sa. This enormous place can seat about 800 people, and regularly gets filled to capacity for its yum cha sessions. Ask the waiter to recommend dishes and you'll be duly rewarded with succulent offerings. As you'd expect, shark fin is the specialty.
'''Chinese Noodle Restaurant''', Shop 7, Prince Centre, 8 Quay Street, 9281 9051. Dishes $6-8.80. At this intimate, busy eatery decorated with grapes and Persian rugs, the noodles are handmade in traditional northern Chinese style - and the crowds are glad of it.
'''Emperor's Garden BBQ & Noodles''' , 213-5 Thomas St, 9281 9899. Dishes $3.50-9. This is a popular Chinese eatery specializing in meat and poultry dishes (marinated duck tongue $6) and has a great little window area where you can choose your takeaway goodies.
'''Harbour Plaza Food Court''', Corner of Dixon & Goulburn Sts, Haymarket. Dishes $5-8. Open 10AM-10PM. The pagoda-style Harbour Plaza has a wide range of cheap Asian meals available.
'''Market City Shopping Centre''', Level 3, 2-13 Quay St Sydney, 9212 1388. Dishes $3.50-10. This mammoth place has a fresh produce market on the first level, a factory outlet on the second level and more food from more places than you can imagine on the third level. You'll find Paddy's Markets and Kam Fook here too.
'''Sussex Centre''', 401 Sussex St Sydney. Dishes $5-7. Open 9am-10pm. The food court here has a range of cheap, tasty dishes, making it a sensible choice for those who want to eat and run.
'''Dixon House Food Court''', Corner Little Hay & Dixon Sts, Haymarket. Dishes $5-8. This food court offers a selection of about 20 vendors, with low prices.
Drink
'''Covent Garden Hotel'''. A local institution. Usually busy, a mix of the after work crowd, tourists, and people in town for a night out. Gets very busy before some shows at the Entertainment centre.
Sleep
Backpackers
The area around Central Station and Haymarket has many choices of backpacker accommodation, including two YHAs at Sydney Central and Railway Square.
Wake Up. 09 Pitt St. pposite Central Station. 612 9288 7888. skup@wakeup.com.au. ttp://www.wakeup.com.au.
Stay Safe
The George St area between Town Hall and Central can be a little rough very late at night. It's always busy though, so the usual precautions should see you stay out of trouble.
Contact
There are lots of Internet cafes around the area, it seems like every convenience store has a terminal set up. In addition the public libraries in the area offer Internet access.
Get Out
Wander westwards to Darling Harbour