Like many colonial Australia goldfields, Walhalla had a thriving and industrious Chinese community, with small groups settled at the southern and northern fringes of the town as early as 1865. In the 1870s, the Chinese Gardens were established at the northern end of the town, consisting of two alluvium flats on the banks of Stringers Creek. A low spur runs between the two flats along which runs the old Walhalla Forest Road. The area was originally developed by the local Chinese community as a market garden, supplying important fresh produce to the town. The gardens rapidly declined after the last Walhalla mine closed in 1913 and by the 1950s, was overgrown with 3 metre high blackberries. The area was subsequently cleared by Tony Schirato (an Italian) who again established a market garden and built a wooden bridge across Stringers Creek. The venture ultimately failed and Tony Schirato left the area. The Chinese Gardens then had a number of owners who operated it as a hobby farm until it was purchased by the Victorian government in 1982. The original Schirato farmhouse was removed in 1986 and a steel shed was place nearby by Parks Victoria. In 2004, the site was officially reserved as an “Area of Historic interest”, under the Crown Land (Reserves) Act, although the reserve borders are different from the original Crown allotments.

The Chinese Gardens is listed on the Heritage Victoria Inventory (H8122-0088) and were assessed as having high archaeological and scientific significance. The site is considered to have “potential to contain archaeological material relating to the late 19th century operation of market gardens”. The site is also on the Register of the National Estate and the National Trust of Victoria Register.

Since the 1970's, there have been numerous proposals and various funding grants to develop the Chinese Gardens into a camping ground for the general public. In 2003, a grant was obtained to build an electricity distribution point and the Baw Baw Shire agreed to seal the main Walhalla Road with bitumen to just past the entrance to the site, plus add a bus turning circle.

The Walhalla Board of Management Incorporated is now determining the next step in developing the Chinese Gardens into a Camping Ground, potentially consisting of allocated campsites, a BBQ and cooking shelter and a Toilet/Shower block.