CHINATOWN

Vancouver - British Columbia - CANADA

Vancouver's Chinatown district, situated just east of the downtown area, is home to much of the city's history and heritage resources.

In the beginning the Chinese population supplied a significant portion of the labour resources on which the growth of the city and province were based.

As social, economic and political restrictions that hindered the development of the Chinese community were lifted Chinatown began to grow in importance and became the 2nd largest Chinatown in North America after San Francisco

During the 1980's and 1990's as new patterns of immigration emerged Chinatown was faced with losing its role as a geographic and cultural centre for the Chinese community. The city of Richmond and other locations began to attract significant numbers of new arrivals from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China generating competing economic and cultural spheres of influence.

In the last year or two efforts have been made to revitalize the historical Chinatown. The City of Vancouver along with provincial and federal departments and the local Chinese business and cultural communities have joined to contribute to this initiative.

This website, emphasising visual content, hopes to provide an understanding and appreciation of the value that Chinatown represents to Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. Enjoy your visit.