Interesting after the recent civic election and the importance of Chinatown in discussions of the future of the city, to remember how important the work of all of the community organizers and young activists over the last three years has been to give some hope for the community. I remember the interview with Douglas Quan that led to his excellent article in the National Post in 2016, and the sense of impending doom at the time that it captured. All credit to those who have devoted so much of their lives over the last three years to Chinatown for hopefully having helped turn the tide. This weekend there was an Open House at Chinatown House on 188 East Pender Street where the City's Chinatown Transformation Team was introduced at their new office. Next to them is UBC Chinatown 唐人街, a base for our many UBC students involved in Chinatown projects, and next to us is Hua Foundation. Commitments have been made to help transform Chinatown to be worthy of a UNESCO World Heritage site designation. It will be years of hard work, and we are still a long way from feeling safe about the community's future, but what a long way we have come over the last three years...
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| Seniors and youth play mahjong in the concourse at Chinatown Plaza. (Mark Yuen / Postmedia News) |
ARE WE WITNESSING THE DEATH OF CHINATOWN — IN VANCOUVER AND ACROSS NORTH AMERICA?
By Douglas Quan
VANCOUVER — As dusk fell over Chinatown recently, a line formed outside the entrance to Kissa Tanto, a stylish Japanese-Italian eatery named Canada’s best new restaurant this year by enRoute magazine. A trio suited up for the downtown office towers nearby sipped cocktails over candlelight at the Juniper Kitchen and Bar. Around the corner, twentysomethings seated at share tables gorged on vegan pizzas at Virtuous Pie.
Hip new restaurants and glass and concrete condos in Canada’s largest Chinatown have, some say, injected a youthful vigour into an area that has been stagnant for years...
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