Addressing the themes of: music and history; tradition versus innovation; cultural diversity/intercultural creativity; and music and the related arts; this book  focuses on encounters between China and Australia from the earliest imaginings and representations to the latest cultural exchanges. Here, the reader will find of stories of forbidden love, prejudice and deceit, of gestures of harmony and the fulfilment of dreams and wishes. Ethnomusicologists, composers, performers, historians and cultural theorists alike explore the past, present, and future of a long, complex and culturally rich interaction. Their writings, so varied and diverse, celebrate a multiplicity of identities, and present a challenging array of research avenues and perspectives through which to view the Australian-Chinese connection.