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Please view the Chinatown Reimagined Virtual Exhibition
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Just a moment - we don't want to you to miss out on any content!
Please view the Chinatown Reimagined Virtual Exhibition
through your computer web browser for an optimal experience!
Time is like tea. It is fluid and dynamic.
It is also something that is best when shared with others.
Each part, from the teapot, the cups, and even the tray, are important pieces of Chinatown’s story connected through the flowing tea.
Like each small cup of tea, this is only a taste of Chinatown’s dynamic history. We hope that you continue exploring and sharing Chinatown’s stories with others. Preferably over a cup of tea.
Vancouver’s Chinatown was shaped--and continues to be shaped--by community connections.
Chinatown has always been a place for different voices to express their diverse backgrounds, identities, and resilience against discrimination.
To begin exploring, hover your mouse over the different parts of our tea set. Click on different pieces, including the parts of the teapot and its surroundings, to enjoy the dynamic story of Chinatown.
Family and community connections influenced why many migrants came to Vancouver’s Chinatown.
People travelled where their friends and families were. Once one person came to Chinatown, it was easier for others to follow.
Networks are not just about blood-relations. Friends and helpful community members could be ‘adopted’ into families.
These diverse family networks evolved into broader community networks.
Family and community connections were--and are--important support systems that helped migrants endure the challenges of living in Canada.
Read about Chinese migrant family and community connection in the book Journeys of Hope.
Yu, Henry. Journeys of Hope: Challenging Discrimination and Building on Vancouver Chinatown's Legacies. Vancouver: Initiative for Student Teaching and Research in Chinese Canadian Studies, 2018.
Early Chinese migrants shared intimate connections, creating tight-knit communities in Vancouver’s Chinatown.
Most early Chinese Canadians originated from the “Four Counties'' regions of Southern China. Each county had a regional dialect: Cantonese, Hokkien, Teochow, and Hakka.
These languages would shape the soundscape of Vancouver’s Chinatown.
The languages of the “Four Counties” were distinct to those specific regions. That meant that information could only be shared between speakers of the same dialect. This contributed to unique migration and language pathways for early Chinese Canadians.
Connections to hometowns and cultural expression were integral parts of Chinese migration.
These networks extended across the Pacific ocean from Southern China to Vancouver, Canada.
Yee, Paul. Saltwater City: An Illustrated History of the Chinese in Vancouver. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 2006.
Yu, Henry. Journeys of Hope: Challenging Discrimination and Building on Vancouver Chinatown's Legacies. Vancouver: Initiative for Student Teaching and Research in Chinese Canadian Studies, 2018.
Yu, Henry, “Unbound Space: Migration, Aspiration, and the Making of Time in the Cantonese Pacific,” Pacific Futures 8, (2019): 178 - 204.
Chinatown society buildings represent a place for community connection and cultural expression.
Chinese migrants created society buildings to feel connected to their hometowns and advocate for themselves against the Canadian government’s discriminatory policies.
Members often shared the same last name, meaning they could be related or from the same village.
Society buildings are important community hubs and are a testament to the strength and resilience of Chinese Canadian communities. They are active spaces that continue to be used today.
Society buildings are more than just physical structures and spaces. Their meanings and significance are shaped by the people who use them and what they use them for.
Continue exploring the cultural significance of society buildings through architecture and intangible heritage though our Chinatown Heritage Gallery.
Read more about the Chinese Exclusion Act and discriminatory policies at The Canadian Encyclopedia.
Discover the Chinese Canadian Museum and the current exhibit, “A Seat at the Table” in partnership with the Museum of Vancouver.
Explore more about Chinatown historic and society buildings through the Chinatown Society Heritage Building Association and read the Historic Study of the Society Buildings in Chinatown.
Yu, Henry. Journeys of Hope: Challenging Discrimination and Building on Vancouver Chinatown's Legacies. Vancouver: Initiative for Student Teaching and Research in Chinese Canadian Studies, 2018.
Hong Kong-style businesses are commonly found in Chinatown today. Many can trace their origins back to migrants from the 1970s and 80s.
In the 1970s, Chinatown went through phases of community-driven restructuring. During this time, a new wave of migrants from Hong Kong arrived, carrying ideas that distinguished them from earlier migrants. For example, Hong Kong foods were a dynamic fusion between ‘western’ and Cantonese cuisines.
Hong Kong migrants founded many iconic and beloved Chinatown bakery-cafes and restaurants, such as Maxim’s Bakery, Sun Fresh Bakery, and Goldstone Bakery. The legacies of Hong Kong migrants are woven into the fabric of Chinatown through their contributions to Chinatown’s foodscape.
Chinatown is a dynamic space that has been shaped by the lives and experiences of its inhabitants and their legacies of migration.
Read more about Chinatown’s diverse connections in “Chinatown Belongs To All Of Us.”
Yee, Paul. Chinatown: An Illustrated History of the Chinese Communities of Victoria, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Halifax. Toronto: James Lorimer & Company Ltd, 2005.
Yee, Paul. Saltwater City: An Illustrated History of the Chinese in Vancouver. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 2006.
Chinatown was and continues to be a space for migrant communities from across the globe.
Chinese diasporic connections that extend across Asia are reflected in Chinatown’s diverse communities. These groups have shaped the social spaces and identities of Chinatown.
Beneath the Surface is a comic that explores how a space is more than it’s physical location because it also tells the stories of the people who live there.
The stories of local spaces highlight the diverse lives of Vancouver’s migrants. People from different places bring their experiences with them to Vancouver.
Phnom Penh and Newtown Bakery are examples of iconic spaces that are now integral to Chinatown’s food scene.
Spaces such as the Tosi Italian Food Import, Hogan’s Alley, and the former Powell Street are examples of Chinatown’s cross-cultural networks.
Chinatown continues to be a diverse space for communities from many different cultural backgrounds.
Watch "The Story of Phnom Penh" produced by UBC INSTRCC.
Read more about Chinatown’s global connections in this article by CBC News.
Leung, Alyssa, Andrew Young, Crystal Lee, Tate Kihara, and Tommy Chen, “The Story of Phnom Penh,” filmed August 2010, Vimeo, https://vimeo.com/13900276.
Yee, Paul. Chinatown: An Illustrated History of the Chinese Communities of Victoria, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Halifax. Toronto: James Lorimer & Company Ltd, 2005.
In the past and present, Chinatown has been a space for marginalized groups to exercise agency and activism.
in the early 1900s, religious and gendered discrimination created many obstacles for Irish Catholic immigrant women looking for work.
In an effort to further exclude Chinese communities, the provincial government banned Chinese restaurants from employing white waitresses.
On September 25, 1937, fifteen Irish waitresses marched to City Hall to protest this unfair and discriminatory ban.
Although the ban was not lifted, their march is an example of cross-cultural resistance in Chinatown. This showed that Chinatown cafes could be spaces of resistance and agency for marginalized groups.
Read more about the waitress march in Roseanne Sia’s article, “Making and Defending Intimate Spaces: White Waitresses Policed in Vancouver’s Chinatown Cafes”
Sia, Roseanne Amosovs. “Making and Defending Intimate Spaces: White Waitresses Policed in Vancouver’s Chinatown Cafes” (Masters diss., University of British Columbia, 2010), ii-48.
Vancouver City Council, Historical Discrimination against Chinese People in Vancouver, Mary Clare Zak. 010635, Ottawa, ON: General Manager of Community Services, 2017. https://council.vancouver.ca/20171031/documents/rr1.pdf (accessed July 13, 2021).
Chinatown is an important space for activism for many different community voices, such as Hogan’s Alley.
Hogan’s Alley was home to many immigrant communities, but known mostly for Vancouver’s Black population. While “Hogan’s Alley” was not an official name, it was a popular term for the area which ran from Union and Prior Street to Main Street and Jackson Avenue, and included the nearby residences and businesses at the southwestern edge of Strathcona.
During its time, Hogan’s Alley encompassed many diverse and shifting populations. For example, it was the original home to Vancouver’s Italian community as well as being near the southern edge of Chinatown. It was also known for “chicken house” restaurants, which often doubled as speakeasies, such as Vie's Chicken and Steaks.
In 1967, the City of Vancouver began leveling the western half of Hogan’s Alley for freeway and viaduct construction which displaced the vibrant communities that called Hogan’s Alley home.
Since then, no specifically Black neighbourhood has existed in Vancouver. However, organizations such as the British Columbia Association for the Advancement of Coloured People and festivals such as Caribbean Days and Black History Month are still held to bring community members together.
Today, the Hogan’s Alley Society aims to platform the Black histories in Vancouver through community engaged activism and research.
Chinatown and its surrounding neighborhoods such as Hogan’s Alley have been--and continue to be--a space for community strength and resilience for many different people. It’s community boundaries are fluid, and the voices it houses are dynamic and diverse.
Watch a short documentary about Hogan’s Alley called “Secret Vancouver: Return to Hogan’s Alley.”
Watch a video about Hogan’s Alley murals celebrating Black history in Vancouver by CBC.
Read more about Hogan’s alley in the Canadian Encyclopedia.
“About Hogan’s Alley,” Hogan’s Alley Society, accessed August 15, 2021, https://www.hogansalleysociety.org/.
The Canadian Encyclopedia, “Hogan’s Alley,” by Wayde Compton, accessed August 20, 2021.
In 2018, the City of Vancouver acknowledged the courage and agency of Chinese Canadians by issuing a formal apology for historic racism.
In the decades leading up to the apology, Chinese Canadian activists were strong and vocal, advocating for redress and reconciliation from the Canadian government.
On April 22, 2018, the city of Vancouver held a special council meeting where the government apologized for their historic racism towards Chinese Canadian communities. Injustices were formally acknowledged, and the City also pledged itself to strengthen its connection to Chinese Canadian communities through legacy actions.
Community activism and advocacy was recognized by the government, contributing to initiatives such as the Legacy Stewardship Group and the Chinatown Transformation Team.
The apology garnered mixed reactions, raising questions like, what does an apology truly represent?
When an apology is given, what does that mean for past injustices?
Is it a closure of the past, or an action towards the future?
By admitting to racist actions of the past, the apology formally recognized the strength and resilience of Vancouver’s Chinese Canadian communities, and the value of Chinatown.
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Read the City of Vancouver’s apology to the Chinese Canadian community.
Learn more about the Legacy Stewardship Group and the Chinatown Transformation Team.
Explore some stories of Chinese Canadian activism in these articles:
Yu, Henry. “Cantonese Migrant Networks, White Supremacy, and the Political Utility of Apologies in Canada,” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies (Special Issue, 2021): 1-26.
Yu, Henry. Journeys of Hope: Challenging Discrimination and Building on Vancouver Chinatown's Legacies. Vancouver: Initiative for Student Teaching and Research in Chinese Canadian Studies, 2018.
Vancouver City Council, City of Vancouver’s Official Apology to the Chinese Community: Recognizing Historical Discrimination Against Chinese People in Vancouver, Gregor Robertson. Vancouver, BC, 2018. https://vancouver.ca/files/cov/18-112-06%20chinese-apology-media-english.pdf (accessed July 13, 2021).
Return to Table
Working on the historical section of Chinatown Reimagined has given us a challenging, yet rewarding, opportunity to critically explore the complex and dynamic identity of Vancouver’s Chinatown. Going into the project, we wanted to use an intersectional activist lens to highlight and explore the histories of underrepresented peoples and communities. We also wanted to make the history feel accessible and framed in a way that connects people with the past while also contextualizing the present. The project has encouraged us to examine the nuanced pathways in which migration and placemaking have shaped Chinatown as a tangible and intangible space. It has also been incredibly rewarding to be able to apply our passions and interests in a way that can uplift previously excluded narratives to help foster a greater sense of community identity, solidarity, and compassion. Together, we challenged ourselves to think beyond conventional historical narratives to bring a new perspective to Chinatown’s history. Ultimately, our goal is to show how Chinatown was shaped--and continues to be shaped--by community connections. We believe that Chinatown has always been a place for different voices to express their diverse backgrounds, identities, and resilience against discrimination.
