Chinatown (Vancouver)

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Image:Millenium Gate.jpg Chinatown in Vancouver, British Columbia is one of the largest Chinatowns in North America. Its location is centred on Pender Street. It is surrounded by Gastown and the Downtown Financial and Central Business Districts to the west, remnants of old Japantown and the Downtown Eastside to the north and the residential neighbourhood of Strathcona to the east. The approximate street borders of Chinatown's commercial area are Hastings, Georgia, Gore, and Taylor Streets, although its boundaries extend well into the residential area south of the Downtown Eastside. Main, Pender, and Keefer Streets are the principle areas of commercial activity.

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). Chinatown remains a popular tourist attraction as well as one of the prominent symbols of institutionalized multiculturalism in Canada since the 1960s.

Chinatown had more 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, coinciding with the increase of Chinese-ethnic retail and restaurants in that area. This new area is designated the "Golden Village" by Tourism Richmond.

1 International Village
2 Amenities
3 Demographics
4 Facts and figures
5 Notable
6 See also
7 Notes
8 External links

[edit] International Village

Since 2004, Chinatown has been in the midst of a renaissance as the downtown boom in construction is encroaching on its limits. New high-rise towers are being constructed around the old Expo 86 site and heavy investment^{[citation needed]} has poured into the development of International Village, downtown's answer to the Asian malls found in the Golden Village.

International Village mall was conceived as a new shopping mall with a movie theatre. The T & T Supermarket, (a Taiwanese food chain), operates a store in International Village at the foot of the Stadium-Chinatown SkyTrain station, as do numerous shops and restaurants.

Image:Shanghai Alley.jpg

[edit] Amenities

Chinatown is becoming more prosperous as new investment and old traditional businesses flourish. Today the neighbourhood is complete with many traditional restaurants, banks, open markets and clinics, tea shops, clothing and other shops catering to the local community and tourists alike. The Vancouver office of Sing Tao, one of the city's four Chinese dailies, remains in Chinatown along with the new Channel M television studio and headquarters.

[edit] Demographics

As with many other Chinatowns, it is still heavily populated by older immigrants; but younger residents, including Taiwanese, white, and Hong Kong yuppies lured by its convenient location and amenities at the heart of the city, have returned downtown and settled in Chinatown over the past decade. As promised by the new Millennium Gate, Chinatown remains the centre of Chinese culture and commerce in the region.

[edit] 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. After being displayed for almost 20 years at it's current location, the Gate was re-built and received a major renovated facade employing stone and steel. Funding for this renovation came through some government and private support; the renovated gate had it's unveiling during the October 2005 visit of Guangdong governor Huang Huahua.

Image:Chinese Garden.jpg

The Sam Kee Building - The Sam Kee Company, one of the wealthier merchants 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.

[edit] 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.