Chinatown, Victoria
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Chinatown is a neighborhood in Victoria, British Columbia. It was the first Chinatown in Canada and second in the world (after San Francisco). It began to form in 1858, with the discovery of gold in the Caribou Mountains. Many Chinese citizens trace their ancestry to south China, mostly in the Guangdong Province. With the Gold Rush on the rise, many Chinese men who immigrated due to famine, drought or war in their homeland sailed across the Pacific Ocean to Victoria which then was the major metropolitan in British Columbia en route to the Barkerville area. Some came from California, where the previous gold frenzy had taken place. A later attraction for Chinese immigrants was the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Mainly men immigrated, but if they made enough money, they would pay for their family's fare to Victoria. Originally, Chinatown was about the same size as it is today but, from 1890 to 1910, population swarmed. In 1911, Victoria's Chinatown housed 3,158 people and covered roughly six city blocks.
Features
A large attraction in Chinatown is its ornate gate which was built in Suzhou, one of Victoria's sister cities. Another feature is the famous Fan Tan Alley, originally a private walkway full of Opium Dens, Fan Tan Parlours and Brothels, it is now a popular shopping area. There are several souvenir shops, one of them the famous "Neverending Store". Many of Chinatown's most historical and important places are hidden, for example, the Tam Kung Buddhist Temple (the oldest Buddhist temple in Canada) so it is important to snoop around while sightseeing in Victoria.
See also
- Canadian Chinese cuisine
- List of Canadian Chinatowns
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|---|---|
| Victoria: | Chinatown | Cook Street Village | East Burnside-Gorge | Fairfield | Fernwood | Harris Green | Hillside | Humboldt Valley | James Bay | Jubilee | North Park | Rockland | Victoria West |
| Saanich: | Beaver Lake-Elk Lake | Broadmead-Sunnymead | Cadboro Bay | Cedar Hill | Cloverdale | Cordova Bay | Glanford | Gordon Head | Gorge-Tillicum | Interurban | Lake Hill | Maplewood | Marigold | Mount Douglas | Mount Tolmie-Lansdowne | Prospect Lake | Royal Oak | Strawberry Vale | Swan Lake | Ten Mile Point | Town and Country-Burnside | West Saanich |
| Other areas: | Belmont Park | Brentwood Bay | Broom Hill | Cloak Hill | Colwood Corners | Craigflower | Dean Park | Deep Cove | Durrance Lake | East Sooke | Florence Lake | Glen Lake | Goldstream | Gonzales | Gorge Vale | Happy Valley | Hatley Park | Island View | Kemp Lake | Lands End | Luxton | Matheson Lake | Mill Hill | Millstream | Otter Point | Pat Bay | Ravenwood | Rockheights | Rocky Point | Royal Roads | Saanichton | Saseenos | Songhees | Swartz Bay | Thetis Lake | Uplands | Whiffen Spit | William Head | Willis Point | Willows Beach | Windsor Park | Work Point |
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