Alex and Dorothy Zhong are part of the accelerating tree change that is bringing hundreds of professionals to regional cities like Orange.

 Only difference is, the two civil engineers came all the way from mainland China and Taiwan to do it!

 Members of the Falun Dafa religious minority, they can often be seen practising their unique health-focussed meditation in Robertson Park at sunset.

 “We keep moving west, we were at Glenfield, Liverpool for one year, then I got a job at Lithgow Council, and then I got a job in civil engineering, and we moved here,” Alex explained.

 “I left China in 2008, I was a teacher at the University, and then I first came to Brisbane to do my PhD study in research,” he added.

 Working on Sydney’s congested roads system, he saw the gridlock that has created one of the main lifestyle drawcards for regional centres like Orange.

 “To be honest, I prefer the country to Sydney. I worked on a lot of RMS (Roads and Maritime Services) jobs but I don’t like the traffic,” Alex said.

 “I also like the sense of community. People are more distant in Sydney, they are far friendlier here,” Alex added.

 He said that quality and life and the diversity of peoples in the Colour City was another drawcard. “It’s very environmental and very clean here, and it’s a very multicultural society, which is very interesting for us,” he added.

 “Australians have got great freedom and are very nice people and like to help each other.

 “I like Orange, it’s more relaxed, in Sydney, I have to take two hours for travel, this left me no time to do meditation, to spend time to improve my health… things here are fresher and better,” Alex said.

 Growing-up and working near the megacities of Beijing (21 million) and Shanghai (28 million), he first saw a glimpse of another world when visiting friends in the independent Chinese island of Taiwan where he also met his future wife.

 “We met when we were introduced by some of our friends in Taiwan when I was visiting… people from mainland China used to be able to go there easily, but not so much at the moment,” he said of the tensions between communist China and the breakaway province.

 “For someone who grew up on the mainland, Taiwan is most magical. Taiwan keeps the traditional Chinese culture that has been lost on the mainland,” he explained.

 “They have mostly lost all the culture, truth, and compassion from the ‘Cultural Revolution’ (1966–1976), while the Taiwanese are still very friendly,” Alex said.

 With their traditionally-derived Chinese faith, Falun Gong, initially tolerated by the Communist Party, and then increasingly-repressed, Alex felt that it was time to get-out.

 “I joined in 1998. From 1992 until 1999, it was given a lot of reward and support, because it is good for people’s health but, as we grew so quickly, they then, maybe think, they’re getting too large and have principles of helping people and traditional morals.

 “They became frightened and banned us, and it all happened in one night,” he said.

 Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) is as much a lifestyle, morality, and health regime as a formal religion with both Alex and Dorothy claiming numerous health benefits from the system that includes breathing exercises, meditation, philosophy, and positive thoughts, to supplement believer’s physical and spiritual well-being.

 Dorothy said that the faith system draws on traditional Chinese Buddhist beliefs that align with her more customs-based Taiwanese upbringing

 “Taiwanese people are more traditional, and I love that.  It is a system that has ties to Chinese Buddhism and beliefs with more emphasis on the health and the body,” she explained.

 “It’s good for people. With COVID and other infections also, it increases natural immunity,” Dorothy said.

 “I appreciate that we get good immunity by practicing Falun Gong. In my opinion, there are lot of benefits to Improve immunity especially during the time of COVID,” Alex added.

 As ethnic Chinese, both say that they have experienced no overt racism in Orange or Australia over the COVID-19 pandemic that is believed to have originated in Wuhan province in central China.

 “We have not suffered too much from the virus, we make sure we keep the distance when we are in public,” Alex said. “No-one has said anything to me about it, not at all, but I can’t control what people think. But for me, no.”

 With their two-year-old son Aaron, they believe moving to the Central Tablelands has been a great lifestyle choice: “I love Orange, it has beautiful streets, it is comfortable with good air,” Alex said.

 “I think he (Aaron) likes everywhere we are, when we practice at home, he also practises like us,” he laughed.