Chinatown, Vancouver
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Aberdeen Centre, an upscale suburban Chinese mall in Richmond's Golden Village, the new "Chinatown".The Chinatown of Vancouver, British Columbia is one of the largest Chinatowns in North America. Its location is centred on Pender Street, and north of Chinatown is the infamous Downtown Eastside and remnants of old Japantown, while the Downtown Financial and Central Business Districts are to the immediate west. The neighbourhood is bordered by Hastings, Keefer, Gore and Taylor Streets.[link] It remains a popular tourist attraction as well as one of the prominent symbols of institutionalized multiculturalism in Canada since the 1960s.
Due to the large ethnic Chinese presence in Vancouver—especially represented by multi-generation Chinese Canadians and first-generation immigrants from Hong Kong—the city has been referred to as Hongcouver (a term considered derogatory by some - though coined by Chinese themselves). Chinatown's location close to the skid row Downtown Eastside is considered a disadvantage by some.
Chinatown had recently been overshadowed by the newer Asian immigrant business district along No. 3 Road in the Vancouver suburb of Richmond. Many affluent Hong Kong and Taiwanese immigrants have moved there since the late 1980s. Known as the Golden Village, No. 3 Road contains numerous large Asian malls, hotels, and shops. It has also become renowned for its Cantonese seafood restaurants, Karaoke bars, and nightlife.
As of 2006, Chinatown is in the midst of a renaissance as the downtown boom in condominium construction is encroaching on its limits. New enclaves of high-rise apartment towers are being constructed around the old Expo 86 site and heavy investment has poured into the development of International Village, downtown's answer to the Asian malls found in Richmond's Golden Village. The construction of the Millennium Gate has also helped to raise the neighborhood's profile. The T & T Supermarket (T & T is a Taiwanese chain) operates a store in Chinatown, at the foot of the steps to the bustling Stadium-Chinatown SkyTrain Station subway station and the Yaletown district.
Today Chinatown has many traditional restaurants, banks, open markets, hospitals and clinics, and other shops catering to the local community and tourists alike. As with many other Chinatowns, it is still heavily populated by older immigrants, but younger residents, including yuppies lured by its convenient location at the heart of the city, have settled in over the past decade.
Facts and figures
- The 'China Gate' on Pender Street was donated to the City of Vancouver by the Government of the People's Republic of China following the Expo 86 world's fair, where it was on display.
- 'The Sam Kee Building' - The Sam Kee Company, one of the wealthiest firms in turn-of-the-last-century Chinatown, bought this land as a standard-sized lot in 1903. However, in 1912 the City widened Pender Street, expropriating 24 feet off the front of the lot. In 1913 the architects Brown and Gillam designed this narrow, steel-framed building that is only 6 feet wide. The basement, extending under the sidewalk, housed public baths; offices and shops were on the ground floor and living quarters above. Rehabilitation of the building for Jack Chow was designed by Soren Rasmussen Architect and completed in 1986. The building is considered the thinnest commercial building in the world according to the Guinness Book of Records.
Notable
In addition to Han Chinese from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Mainland China, Chinese Latin Americans have also settled in the Chinatown area. Most of them were from Peru, and arrived shortly after Juan Velasco Alvarado took over the country. Others hail from Brazil, Mexico, and Nicaragua.See also
- Canadian Chinese cuisine
- List of Canadian Chinatowns
External links
- [Vancouver Chinatown Official Web Site]
- http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-69-1433-9246/life_society/chinese_immigration/clip5 For the love of Chinatown radio programme of CBC Radio
- [Chinese Community Policing Center - part of the Vancouver Police Department]
- [Mobile Chinatowns: the future of community in a global space of flows] - Academic paper by Vincent Miller conveying the differences between the old Vancouver Chinatown and the new Richmond.
| Neighbourhoods in Vancouver, British Columbia | |
|---|---|
| Main neighbourhoods [link]: | Arbutus Ridge | Downtown | Downtown Eastside | Dunbar-Southlands | Fairview | Grandview-Woodland | Hastings-Sunrise | Kensington-Cedar Cottage | Kerrisdale | Killarney | Kitsilano | Marpole | Mount Pleasant | Oakridge | Renfrew-Collingwood | Riley Park-Little Mountain | Shaughnessy | South Cambie | Strathcona | Sunset | Victoria-Fraserview | West End | West Point Grey |
| Other areas: | Champlain Heights | Chinatown | Coal Harbour | Commercial Drive | Davie Village | East Vancouver | False Creek | Gastown | Granville Island | Granville Mall | Greektown | Japantown | Koreatown | Little Italy | Mackenzie Heights | Punjabi Market | Robson Street | South Granville Rise | Stanley Park | University Endowment Lands | Yaletown |
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