Tucked quietly into Edward Street in Glebe, the Sze Yup Temple is one of the oldest surviving Chinese temples in Australia. Built in 1898 by migrants from the Sze Yup region of Guangdong, it stands as a living link to Sydney’s early Chinese community and their determination to maintain cultural and spiritual traditions far from home. When we visited, the air was gently scented with incense and thin curls of smoke drifted upward as visitors burned joss paper in the courtyard — symbolic “spirit money” offered to honour ancestors and seek blessing or protection.
