Old meets new in Vancouver Chinatown. Photo courtesy of Maya-Anaïs Yataghène (flickr).
One of Vancouver’s most interesting – and most rapidly changing – neighborhoods is the city’s Chinatown, located on the eastern edges of downtown. From its roots as a destination for Western Canada’s earliest Asian immigrants, Vancouver’s Chinatown is evolving into a fascinating mix of traditional buildings, funky shops, and a wide range of eating and drinking places, whether you’re craving a classic dim sum tea lunch, a creative cocktail, or a slice of homemade pie.
To help you navigate this increasing eclectic district, here’s our guide to Vancouver Chinatown.
What to See and Do
Follow Pender Street east from downtown, and you’ll enter Chinatown through the gold-roofed Millennium gate.
Just off Pender is Chinatown’s don’t-miss attraction, the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. When it opened in the mid-1980s, it was the first traditional Ming Dynasty-style garden built outside of China, constructed entirely by Chinese artisans. All the materials were imported from China, even, as garden staff will tell you, “the tiniest pebbles.” Take an informative tour (included in the admission price) to learn more about this tranquil garden’s design and history.
Next to the garden is a city park with a similar name: Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Park. Though it draws on some elements of Chinese garden design, it’s essentially a modern, locally-constructed green space. You won’t necessarily learn anything about Chinese history from a stroll in this free park, but it’s a pleasant spot to rest your feet.
The Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Vancouver (555 Columbia St.) has several small gallery spaces that are open to the public. Permanent exhibits showcase Chinese-Canadian immigration and early life, as well as military history, and you’ll often find changing exhibitions of Chinese art.
For a more contemporary art experience, visit the Rennie Collection in the Wing Sang Building (51 E. Pender St.), a private gallery owned by Vancouver real estate magnate Bob Rennie. Look up to see “Work No. 851: EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT,” by British artist Martin Creed, installed six stories above the street. Inside, the gallery organizes periodic exhibits that open for free tours by appointment. Check their website for hours and show details.
Throughout the year, look for special events that enliven Chinatown’s streets. One of the biggest festivals is the annual Lunar New Year celebration, with a parade that typically draws more than 50,000 spectators. In summer, Keefer Street transforms into a weekend Night Market, as vendors sell snacks and souvenirs. The August Chinatown Festival also brings entertainment and food to neighborhood thoroughfares.
If you’d prefer to see the neighborhood sights with a guide, consider a Walking Tour of Chinatown and nearby Gastown, a two-hour exploration of Vancouver’s oldest districts.
Where to Shop
Produce vendors, butchers, and a skateboard shop? When you browse the streets of Chinatown, you’ll increasingly ping-pong between old and new. Some fun shops to seek out include Erin Templeton (511 Carrall St.), selling this local designer’s leather bags and accessories; Charlie & Lee (223 Union St.), which showcases local and international independent fashions; and Board of Trade (227 Union St.), for clothing, jewelry, and assorted cool stuff.
On Pender Street, look for Ming Wo (23 E. Pender St.), if you’re on the hunt for kitchenware and other gourmet gadgets, and Peking Lounge (83 E. Pender St.), which is not a drinking establishment, but a trendy Asian-influenced furniture and home accessories store.
And that skateboard seller? It’s Flatspot Longboard Shop (112 E. Pender St.). You can even try out your new gear nearby, or watch the acrobatic boarders, at the Downtown Skate Park, located under the Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts between Quebec and Union Streets.
Modern bahn mi in Chinatown. Photo courtesy of The Union.
Where to Eat
When you’re looking for places to eat in Chinatown, you’ll still find old-style dim sum parlors like Jade Dynasty (137 E. Pender) and colossal banquet halls like Floata Seafood (180 Keefer St.). And one of the best ways to explore the neighborhood, with tastes of its traditional fare, is on a Chinatown Walking Tour, with a hosted dim sum lunch.
Increasingly, though, a visit to Chinatown means supping at hip eateries that travel both near and far from the district’s Chinese roots. Among the first of these neighborhood newcomers, Bao Bei (163 Keefer St.), a Chinese “brasserie” and cocktail lounge, takes traditional Asian dishes and gives them a modern twist. Their chefs stuff mantou (steamed buns) with pork belly, preserved turnip, and sugared peanuts, and elevate their house fried rice to “kick ass” status by adding smoked duck breast, kohlrabi, and chili bamboo.
The Union (219 Union St.) serves updated dishes from across Asia, putting their own spin on Vietnamese bahn mi (sandwiches), Indian aloo chana dahl (potato and chick pea curry), and Singapore laksa (seafood noodles). Down the street, Harvest Community Foods (243 Union St.) is part local grocery and part modern noodle shop, where you can slurp udon paired with sake kazu chicken or ramen with squash in a vegetarian miso broth.
Bestie (105 E. Pender St.) cooks up German-style currywurst, Mamie Taylor’s (251 E. Georgia St.) offers southern American classics like fried chicken and biscuits or shrimp and grits, while the piccolo Pizzeria Farina (915 Main St.) bakes traditional Neapolitan pies.
For a sweet afternoon snack, head for The Pie Shoppe (721 Gore St.), a storefront no bigger than a slice that sells fresh-from-the-oven seasonal fruit pies alongside destined-to-become-classics like chocolate pecan.
Where to Hang Out
Though Chinatown’s streets often feel sleepy after dark, the neighborhood does have an emerging bar and entertainment scene.
In a restored historic building, the upscale Keefer Bar (135 Keefer St.) serves cool cocktails, including some, like the Loquat Sour (tequila, loquat syrup, and Shanghai rhubarb bitters) or the Almond Nog (rum, almond milk, ginger, and Sichuan peppercorns), that take their inspiration from the district’s Asian heritage. Channeling the 1960s Rat Pack, The Emerald (555 Gore St.) does drinks and entertainment in a Las Vegas-style lounge.
The revamped Rickshaw Theatre (254 E. Hastings St.) hosts an diverse line-up of concerts and events, while in a former 1906 firehouse on the edge of Chinatown, the Firehall Arts Centre (280 E. Cordova St.) programs independent theatre and other productions.
You never know quite what you’ll find on these stages. These days, you’ll always find surprises, too, on the streets of old-meets-new Chinatown.
