Celebrate Lunar New Year with Chinese footprints, a walking tour led by Lynette Shum (Oral History Advisor, Archives Library New Zealand) and historian Nigel Murphy. The tour will draw on images, ephemera, and oral history from the Alexander Turnbull Library's collections.
Meet at the Wellington Trades’ Hall Building for a brief introduction, before heading out to explore sites of significance for Wellington’s early Chinese community. These include businesses, eateries, and Haining Street’s ‘Chinatown’ — heritage largely erased and now invisible to passers-by. The tour concludes back at the Trades’ Hall Building with a pot of Chinese tea.
A koha of $10 is suggested to help cover the cost of running the tours.
Spots are limited, so book your place now by emailing ATLOutreach@dia.govt.nz.
24 February 2026 Chinese footprints: A Lunar New Year walking tour of Wellington | National Library of New Zealand
21 March 2026 Chinese footprints: A Lunar New Year walking tour of Wellington | National Library of New Zealand
About the speakers
Lynette Shum, third-generation Poon Yue Chinese New Zealander, is Oral History Advisor for Archives Library of New Zealand. Her first home was on the fringes of Chinatown, yet she was unaware of its existence until researching what would become the Haining Street Oral History Project. She has completed an MA on the topic.
Nigel Murphy has been researching, writing, and lecturing on Chinese New Zealand history for almost 40 years. His interests include the politics of Chinese New Zealanders, their organisations and associations, social and cultural lives, home villages, and transnational connections with other Chinese overseas communities.