CHINATOWN, Vancouver

THINGS TO DO IN VANCOUVER-
CHINATOWN
Chinatown Vancouver BC is the second largest Chinatown in North America (after Chinatown, San Francisco, which is arguably the largest). North of Chinatown is the infamous Downtown Eastside while the Downtown Central Business District is to the west. Chinatown remains a popular tourist attraction as well as one of the prominent symbols of institutionalized multiculturalism in Canada since the 1960s.

Chinatown in the past had been overshadowed by the more gleaming Asian immigrant business district along No.3 Road in the Vancouver suburb of Richmond. Scores of affluent Hong Kong and Taiwanese immigrants have moved there since the late 1980's. Known as the Golden Village, No.3 Road contains numerous large Asian malls, hotels, and shops. It has also become reknowned for its Cantonese seafood restaurants, Karaoke bars, and upscale nightlife.

Today, Chinatown Vancouver 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 yards, and heavy investment has poured into the development of International Village, downtown's ambitious answer to the Asian malls found in suburban Richmond. The construction of the Millennium Gate has also helped to raise the profile of Chinatown. The upscale T&T Supermarket (T&T is a Taiwanese chain) operates a store in Chinatown, right at the foot of the steps to the bustling Chinatown bus Stadium Skytrain station and the Yaletown district.

Chinatown still has many traditional restaurants, banks, open air markets, and other shops catering to the local community and tourists alike. There are many interesting shops to see with an array of sights and smells. You can see and of course purchase live eels, flattened ducks and hundred year old eggs. For something a little more pleasant head to Keefer Street, which is known locally as 'Bakery Row' with lots of lovely things to buy from Moon cakes and steamed buns. As with many other Chinatowns, it is still heavily populated by older immigrants, but younger residents lured by its convenient location at the heart of the city, have settled in Chinatown in the past decade.