the Duke of Connaught. The new gate contrasts bare concrete pillars with an elaborately painted upper section topped with a traditional flare roof. The characters inscribed on its eastern side implore visitors to “Remember the past and look forward to the future.” Check out the stylized lions flanking the site: each gaping mouth used to contain a polished marble ball. They mysteriously disappeared soon after the gate’s inauguration.
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Walk east under the gate and you’ll immediately notice red-painted street lamps (some topped with ferocious golden dragons), rows of pagoda-topped old buildings and street signs adorned with Chinese characters. On your immediate right is Shanghai Alley. While it seems like a quiet backstreet today, this was once a clamorous Chinatown enclave, home to hundreds of single men domiciled in cheap lodgings. The self-contained thoroughfare had its own shops and restaurants and its vibrant nightlife was centered on a large 500-seat auditorium called the Sing Kew Theatre.
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After peering down Shanghai Alley, continue east on W. Pender. On your right, you’ll come to the Sam Kee Building, one of Chinatown’s most famous structures. Gaze into the windows here and you’ll see framed newspaper clippings showing that this slender construction has been recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s narrowest building. At only 6 feet/2 metres wide, it’s hard to argue the point. It was built in 1912 when a public road-widening project expropriated all but a slender strip of a lot owned by merchant Chang Toy (aka Sam Kee). Rather than let it go to waste, the stubborn businessman built this narrow structure. The green glass rectangles studding the sidewalk are remnants of a public steam bath built below the street.
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Just past the Sam Kee Building, turn right along Carrall St. Half a block down on your left, you’ll come to the entrance of the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. A team of 52 artisans was flown in to build this stunning landscaped enclave in 1986, creating an exact Ming-style formal garden. Named after the first president of the Republic of China, it’s a tranquil labyrinth of traditional pavilions, mini-courtyards, covered walkways, and bridge-traversed ponds alive with koi and bobbing turtles. If you have time, take the guided tour that illuminates the deep meaning behind the garden’s multifarious features.
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Alternatively, if you’re on a budget, stroll east past the entrance. A little farther along the wall you’ll find a circular doorway leading to a free-entry public park built on similar principles. While not nearly as elaborate as the main attraction, this garden has its own pavilion, limestone features, and a lily-pad-strewn pond.
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Once you’ve had your serenity fix, head back into the concrete courtyard fronting both gardens. Check out the imposing, militaristic bust of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen here, then stroll north across the square toward what’s now E. Pender St. Before you get there, peruse the discreet bronze frieze recessed into the scarlet wall tiles on your right. It recognizes the “blood, sweat, tears and toil” of the more than 10,000 Chinese railway workers “and all Chinese pioneers” who came to Canada during an earlier era.
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On E. Pender, you’ll find another Chinatown gate rising above you, parallel with the street’s southern edge. This one looks like the ghostly visage of a traditional bright painted gate and that’s not far from the truth. The elaborate red, gold, and green construction that fronted the China Pavilion at Expo ’86 was donated to the city and moved to Chinatown after the event. Designed as a temporary structure, it soon began to crumble and efforts to secure restoration funding failed. It was demolished in 2001, but in 2005, a replacement was donated by Guangzhou, Vancouver’s Chinese sister city. Constructed with pale marble pillars and topped with carved white panels, it’s an unusual, almost spectral, alternative.
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Stroll east along E. Pender. This stretch of Chinatown includes some of the area’s best-preserved historic buildings, many of which housed the merchants and cultural establishments that once drove the district’s micro-economy. On your right, just past Columbia St., you’ll soon come to the slender green- and red-brick Chinese Benevolent Association building. Opened in 1904, this organization distributed welfare to the area’s destitute and even housed a small hospital for a few years. Echoing classic Southern Chinese architecture of the period, the building’s deeply recessed balconies protect from lashing rainstorms—a handy feature in Vancouver, too.
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E. Pender gets a little steeper here but continue east along the right side of the street. You’ll notice that new developments are emerging, while many of the old buildings still have busy shops and eateries occupying their lower floors. You’ll soon come to one of the best of these. A perfect pit stop on your walk, the cheap-and-cheerful New Town Bakery has a busy takeout operation at the front. Peruse the racks of unfamiliar treats and pick-up a baked barbecued pork bun or two for the road.
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Continue up E. Pender and your next intersection is Main St. Expect to be accosted by a vagrant or two asking for spare change here. Cross east over Main and duck into the Ten Lee Hong Enterprises building on the opposite corner. One of the area’s most famous traditional teashops, it’s lined with aromatic leaf varieties, mostly imported from Taiwan and Mainland China. If your timing is right, you may get a choice of small free samples.
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Keep strolling east along E. Pender and you’ll find yourself in Chinatown’s main food shopping area. Fronted by pyramids of dry fish, leathery red lychees, and spiky durian fruits, the grocery stores lining this strip are a visitor attraction in themselves. Expect a sensory explosion of salty barbecue aromas and loud Chinese banter, and make sure you duck into the shops and pick up a snack or two for later.
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Continue east to the next intersection, then turn right along Gore Ave. Stroll south for one block. You’ll spot a handful of cottage vendors here selling everything from hand-knitted hats to unfamiliar backyard-grown vegetables to dried lizards splayed on sticks. At the next intersection, turn right down Keefer St. The shops here, from old-school apothecaries to garish trinket stores, are just as busy as those on E. Pender. This strip is the center of Chinatown’s popular summertime night market when the street transforms into an alfresco bazaar of hawker food, live music, and tempting stalls on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights.
Conclude your Chinatown walk with dinner at Hon’s Wun-Tun House, on the left-hand side of Keefer. Chinatown is stuffed with restaurants but this one has been a local favorite for many years. One of the first Vancouver restaurants to bring Hong Kong-style noodles to town back in 1982, it’s since branched out and developed a bewildering array of good-value dishes. The room here is often stuffed with chattering locals and if you’re not sure what to go for try the barbecued duck noodles with a side order of pork pot stickers.
POINTS OF INTEREST
Sam Kee Building 8 W. Pender St.
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden 578 Carrall St., 604-662-3207
Chinese Benevolent Association Building 108 E. Pender St.
New Town Bakery 158 E. Pender St., 604-689-7835
Ten Lee Hong Enterprises 500 Main St., 604-689-7598
