ChinatownVancouver's Chinatown is not only a strong, established ethnic
community, but also a popular tourist attraction and prosperous
commercial district. Its bustling streets are full of colour and
commerce; even the pagoda-topped telephone booths add to the
atmosphere. Shop displays spill onto the pavements, and tables
groan with the weight of exotic foodstuffs and the strange wares of
the Chinese apothecaries. The Sam Kee Building in Pender Street is
listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as being the narrowest
building in the world, at only six-foot (two metres) wide. This was
the result of a local property owner reacting to the expropriation
of most of his land in 1912 for the widening of the street: Chang
Toy decided to build what he could on the remaining tiny strip.
Another main attraction in Chinatown is the Dr Sun Yat-Sen
Classical Chinese Garden, enclosed behind high walls, that was
built in 1986 at a cost of $5.3-million with the craftsmen and
materials all imported from
Address: Downtown Vancouver
Website: www.vancouver-chinatown.com
Transportation: Bus or SkyTrain, to Main Street Station or Stadium
Station |
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