 It is notable for being the oldest Chinatown in Australia, the oldest continuous Chinese settlement in Australia, and the longest continuous Chinese settlement in the western world, only because San Francisco's Chinatown was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake.The gold rush eventually waned, causing a shift from rural living and an influx of people migrating into metropolitan Melbourne, particularly Little Bourke Street, which already had a predominantly Chinese population.The Chinese established themselves as storekeepers, importers, furniture-makers, herbalists and in the wholesale fruit and vegetable and restaurant industries.