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Neighbourhoods with high concentrations of
single ethnic groups - Punjabi Market, Little
Italy, Greektown, and
Japantown.
The Chinese community is the largest
visible ethnic group in the city, and Vancouver has a very diverse Chinese-speaking
community, with Cantonese and Mandarin dialects represented.
Germans were the next-largest European ethnic group to settle in Vancouver and were a leading force
in the city's society and economy.
Other significant Asian ethnic groups in Vancouver are Vietnamese, Filipino, Indonesian, Korean,
and Cambodian.
Eastern Europeans, including Yugoslavs, Russians, Czechs, Poles and Hungarians began immigrating
after the Soviet takeover of Eastern Europe after World War II.
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Gastown is a national historic site located in
Vancouver, British Columbia, located at the northeast end of Downtown adjacent to the Downtown
Eastside.
Gastown was Vancouver's first downtown core and is named after "Gassy" Jack
Deighton, a Geordie seaman, steamboat captain and barkeep who arrived in 1867 to open the area's
first saloon.
Gastown found new life as the centre of the city's wholesale produce
distribution until the Great Depression in the 1930s. It also was centre of the city's drinking
life (there were 300 licensed establishments the twelve-block area of the former Granville,
B.I.)
After the Depression Gastown was a largely forgotten neighbourhood of the larger city and fell into
decline and disrepair until the 1960s.
Gastown's most famous (though nowhere near oldest) landmark is its steam-powered clock, located on
the corner of Cambie and Water Street. Built to cover a steam grate, part of Vancouver's
distributed steam-heating system, the clock was built as a way to harness the steam and to prevent
street people from sleeping on the spot in cold weather. Based on an 1875 design, the Gastown Steam
Clock was the first steam-powered clock in the world.
Don’t miss the statue of “Gassy” Jack and stop by the quirky
Gastown Steam Clock, where 5 enormous brass whistles play Westminster Chimes every 15
minutes!
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Chinatown in
Vancouver, British Columbia is Canada's largest
Chinatown.Chinatown remains a popular tourist attraction, and is one of the largest
historic Chinatowns in North America. Between
1890-1920, early Chinese immigrants settled in what was known as Shanghai Alley and Canton
Alley. By 1890, Shanghai Alley was home to more than
1,000 Chinese residents. Much of the community's activities and entertainment evolved around a 500 seat Chinese theatre built in
1898.
Chinatown is one of the city's earliest commercial and residential
districts, containing a remarkable collection of
buildings from Vancouver’s boom years at the turn of the last century.
During Vancouver's prosperous years between 1897 and 1913, Chinatown
grew as Chinese merchants invested in new properties.
They extended Chinatown south along Carrall Street, west to Shanghai
Alley and Canton Alley, and eventually east along Pender Street to Gore Street.
During the Great Depression 1930s the Vancouver Chinese community
lost 6,000 people, half of its members.
The Province also recognized Chinatown's special history and
architecture by designating it a historic district in 1971, together with the neighboring
Gastown.
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Granville Island
is a small peninsula connected to downtown Vancouver via the Granville Street
Bridge.
In the early 1900s, Granville Island was home to factories,
plants, sawmills and steel factories, it is now a popular area boasting a large public market as
well as many galleries and shops.
The biggest attraction on Granville Island is the Public Market. The whole island includes several
theaters, a huge market place, numerous galleries and shops. Vancouver’s performing arts scene is
centred on Granville Island.
With several professional and amateur theatre and comedy companies, there is a live entertainment
option on any given night.
You can also get a tour in the Granville Island Brewery. Granville
Island is the culinary and artistic heart of Vancouver and the best way to get the feel of
Granville Island is to stroll through its renovated
streets.
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Robson is Vancouver's most famous shopping
street in downtown Vancouver.
Robson Street is packed with stores and
restaurants, from Granville St. to Jervis St.
Home to over 200 shops, cafés and services, Robson Street is a shopping paradise, full of
every kind of stores, bars, cafes and restaurants you can imagine, from the most expensive to the
average price stores.
A true delight for shopping fanatics, the Robson Street district
even has something for the person who has everything!
Restaurants are nearly as diverse as the shopping opportunities.
Visitors can enjoy everything from local Northwest specialties to down-home Southern cooking to
five-star French cuisine.
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