Vancouver’s Chinatown
Engrained In British Columbia’s History

by Habeeb Salloum

As I walked through the ornate Millennium Gate into Vancouver’s historic Chinatown, I remembered the elation that I felt the first time in the late 1940s when I first walked through this part of Vancouver. As I looked around at the stores lining both sides of Pender Street with their exotic goods and the restaurants emitting mouth- watering aromas I felt that I was in another world. At that time Canada was not as multi- cultural as it is today and for a farm boy from the prairies it was something strange yet beautiful and exciting.

At that time, for me, it was unique in that there were only a few large Chinatowns in Canada. Today there are many Chinatowns - more than one in the large urban centres. From a few thousand at the beginning of the last century to some 1.3 million today, Canadians of Chinese origin make up some 4% of Canada’s population. Mandarin and Cantonese are the mother tongues in some 30 per cent of Vancouver homes, making Chinese the largest ‘minority’ ethnic group in the city. The vast majority, having immigrated to Canada in the last half century, created new Chinatowns in the cities in which they reside.

However, the mother of all the Canadian Chinatowns is the one in Vancouver, North America's second biggest Chinatown, after San Francisco's. Located on Pender Street, this Chinese-Canadian historic site is edged by tourist-drawing Gastown and the Downtown Financial and Central Business Districts. Here, in this mini-China one can enjoy an authentic oriental atmosphere amid many well-preserved Chinese style buildings without travelling to the Far East for a taste of Chinese culture.

Even though many wealthy Vancouverites of Chinese origin and the newly arrived affluent immigrant families from the Far East settled in the suburbia city of Richmond and created what is today called the ‘Golden Village’, now larger than Chinatown, downtown Chinatown remains their cultural heart. In 1971, the whole of Chinatown together with neighbouring Gastown were declared historic sites by the provincial government of British Columbia.

In the past this was not always so. The Chinese lived on the margins of society. Even though a good numbers of Canadians think of the Chinese as new immigrants, the Chinese have had a long chequered history in this country. Beginning in the early 1880s, Chinese labourers were recruited to work in British Colombia’s canneries, coalmines, gold fields and sawmills. Between 1881 and 1885, 10,000 Chinese labourers were brought in to build the Canadian Pacific Railway.

In that part of the 19th century and long after, racism ran supreme. There was no equality for Orientals except for a few rich merchants. In 1885 the Canadian government placed a head tax on Chinese immigrants and being the lowest paid of all immigrants, few had the money to pay the head tax and bring over their families. Hence, the Chinese in Vancouver’s Chinatown and, in fact, in all of Canada, were almost all male. They usually lived in crowded rooming houses in and around Chinatown. The lonely life led many to opium for solace; others to gambling. They created their own associations and lived in a tiny world of their own.

Discrimination, systematic harassment by people in power, not being allowed to vote in any of the elections, they suffered but not in silence, actively resisting all types of discriminatory measures. The discrimination was at its peak in 1923 when the Federal Government passed the Exclusion Act, which effectively barred all new Chinese immigration - not to be repealed until 25 years later after the Second World War.

Soon thereafter, Chinatown was re-energised. People’s attitudes began to change: what was sinister in the past now became exotic and appealing. Residents and tourists flooded into the area to walk through the hustle and bustle of Chinatown, trying the Chinese foods in the restaurants and browsing the stores for food, clothing and household items while enjoying the district's Chinese aura. With the increase in business, merchants and restaurant owners made the district more inviting by adding shimmering neon signs and Chinese-style elements, such as tiled red street lamps.

Today every structure seems to hide something exotic and interesting - from a store filled with ancient herbal remedies to buildings featuring unique architecture. To enjoy Vancouver’s Chinatown, like I had this day, one can walk via the Silk Road Route - a pedestrian walkway connecting Chinatown to downtown Vancouver. Beginning at the Central Library located in the centre of the city the Route, a self-guided walking tour, is clearly marked throughout with colourful banners and road signs and takes visitors on a tour that touches on Chinatown's activities and cultural highlights.

Entering Chinatown, travellers should first stop at the Millennium Gate, built to inaugurate the new millennium. It features both Oriental and western symbols with traditional and modern Chinese themes in its construction and appearance. The gate is a fine beginning to stroll through the area and explore the attractions of Chinatown. 

Besides the shops stocking the exotic goods of the East and eating-places offering the best in Chinese food there are numerous attractions that appeal to tourists. From among these are: the West Han Dynasty Bell, a replica of a huge West Han Dynasty bell unearthed in Guangzhou, China in 1983, bearing the names of the early settlers in Vancouver; the Sam Kee Building, only 1.8 meters (6 ft) wide, this unusual structure is entered in  ‘Ripley's Believe It or Not’ as the world's narrowest building; the Century's Winds of Change Mural, a huge wall painting celebrating the struggles, settlement and integration of the Chinese-Canadian in Canada; and the Chinese Cultural Centre Museum and Archives, housing a museum with a Chinese style exterior and a modern western-style interior.

Our last stop was at the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, located within the Cultural Centre complex, the first Ming Dynasty Scholar's Garden built outside of China. In its architectural maze of walls within walls and courtyards within courtyards, dotted with a wonderful collection of bridges, covered galleries, halls and pavilions, we rested in a bit of classical China - a fitting end to our exploration of Vancouver’s Chinatown - a true Vancouver experience.

IF YOU GO

How to Get There:

The Vancouver International Airport is located 20 minutes from downtown - cost by taxi about $30.  Also, the Vancouver Airporter departs regularly for the airport, approximately every 40 minutes, from selected downtown hotels -  $13.75 per person one-way. 

Facts about Vancouver:

During the summer, on weekend evenings, Keefer and Pender Streets become a busy open-air night market.  If you have time, check out the many varieties of fresh and dried seafood and mushrooms as well as traditional Chinese medicine.  For a leisurely meal, try dim sum at one of the many small restaurants - a true multi-course culinary adventure.

At most times of the year you need an umbrella in Vancouver.

Try Vancouver's SkyTrain - the quickest and most scenic way to traverse the metropolitan region - $2. 50 one-zone, $3.75 two-zones and  $5.00 three-zone.  Edging Chinatown are two SkyTrain stations (Stadium or Main Street).

Tourists in Vancouver can swim and ski the same day, enjoy one of the most scenic settings in the world and relax in the banana belt of Canada.

Two Fine Places to Stay near Chinatown:

Blue Horizon Hotel, has a spectacular harbour, mountain and city views. 1225 Robson St., Vancouver BC, V6E 1C3, Canada.  Tel: 604- 688-1411 - toll free:1-800-663-1333.  Fax: 604-688-4461.  bluehorizonhotel@telus.net,  Website: www.bluehorizonhotel.com  Prices range between$109.00 to $299.00, depending on room and time of year.

Riviera Hotel, 1431 Robson Street, Vancouver, BC V6G 1C1 CA.  Tel: (604) 685-1301 or toll Free: 1-888-699-5222.  Fax: (604) 685-1335.  Email:  rivierahotel@aol.com

Web: http://www.vancouver-bc.com/RivieraHotel/   Average price about $103. per day.

Two Good Places to Eat:

Phnom Penh Restaurant: serving Cambodian and Vietnamese food.  244 E Georgia St.  Tel: 604 682-5777.  Cost for a meal, $10.00 or less.

New Mitzie's Restaurant: serving Chinese food.  179 E Pender Street.  Tel: 604-689-9763. Cost for a meal, $10.00 or less.

Note: All prices quoted are in Canadian dollars.

For Further Information, Contact: 

Tourism Vancouver:  Plaza Level - 200 Burrard Street, Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6C 3L6.  Tel: 604/683-2000.  Fax: 604/682-6839.  Website: www.tourismvancouver.com.