Beautiful Victoria, British Columbia, Canada: Chinatown

The Ever-Patient Terry and I have been 
in Victoria almost two weeks now,
and we've been all over the downtown area.
It is one of the most walker friendly cities I've explored.

Victoria's Harbour Area

We've walked over most of this!

cruisemapper

One of the fascinating areas we have visited

is Victoria's Chinatown, the oldest in Canada

and the oldest physically surviving in North America.

San Francisco's Chinatown predated Victoria's,

but it was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake.

The Gate of Harmonious Interest

Victoria, B.C.

The heart of Victoria's present day Chinatown 

is the 500 and 600 blocks of Fisgard Street,

with The Gate of Harmonious Interest in the middle.

map

This beautiful arch was built by the city of Victoria

in 1981 and funded by the urban community 

and the municipal and provincial governments.

The arch was modeled after the entrance to China's 

Dunhuang Caves and the Pingshan Hall gate in Yangzhou.

library.uvic

The two granite lions
flanking the arch
were presented to Victoria
by its sister city
Suzhou, China
in September 1981. 

At first glance Chinatown seems crowded and chaotic,

a mishmash of buildings, alleys, shops, balconies and fire escapes,

apartments, signs, lanterns, and sidewalk vendors.

The 500 Block Fisgard Street

But once you start walking up and down its streets,

you begin to glimpse the mystery of old Chinatown
with its storied history of gambling, prostitution, and opium.

  

 Along Fisgard Street

The Gold Rush of 1858 brought hundred of Chinese miners 
to British Columbia along with 30,000 other gold-seekers.

Wealthy Chinese merchants from San Francisco
soon arrived in Victoria by boat that same year.
They bought land and built huts in anticipation of laborers 
arriving to work in the Fraser River placer deposits. 
Simon Fraser University 


Within a year, Chinese immigrants were sailing 
from China to Victoria seeking gold, 
but also fleeing war, drought, and famine.
Chinatown became the gateway to the mainland gold fields.

Chinatown connected to Victoria by small bridges 
across the Johnson Street ravine.  
Tenements, businesses, stores, and warehouses 
sprang up in an area where the Chinese hoped
they would not experience the same discrimination
the Chinese had in the California gold rush.
Royal BC Museum: Gold Rush! El Dorado in B.C.

Chinatown provided a haven and a base

for Chinese immigrants beginning a new life in Victoria.

victoria.ca

Ah Hoo, a Chinese Miner in British Columbia

wikimedia

Over time, Chinatown became a home to Chinese 

who worked in the gold regions, salmon canneries, 

and logging camps during the better months of the year,

but returned to spend their winter in Victoria.

There they frequented Chinatown's tea houses, stores, 

brothels, gambling dens, opium parlors, and theaters.

victoria.ca

Chinatown had its Forbidden City
hidden behind the streets fronts
by heavy wooden doors or gates.
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This warren of alleyways 

and courtyards 

was open only to Chinese.

Its gambling dens had 

elaborate escape routes for 

clients fleeing police raids.

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You can explore part of the Forbidden City 
by slipping into a narrow crack between 
two towering red brick buildings on Fisgard Street.

This passageway is Fan Tan Alley, 
reputed to be the narrowest street in Canada,
only 35 inches or 90 centimeters wide in places.
wikipedia 

Exploring Fan Tan Alley's
Twists and Turns
and Imagining its
Forbidden Past.

        

 

There is so much to see every which way

up and down the streets of Chinatown.

Along Fisgard

Dragon Alley

A Coffee House on Fisgard.

The 1980s saw a revitalization of Chinatown

which has continued into the present.

Old buildings were restored and converted into new spaces:

studios, workshops, condominiums, stores, and offices.

It became particularly popular among the artistic community,

and it is no longer exclusively Chinese in population.

In 1995 Chinatown was designated 

a National Historic Site of Canada.

Condos in Dragon Alley

Coal, Well-Known Resident of Fan Tan Gallery 

Ping Tsing's Sculpture of a Red Dragon

at the Corner of Pandora and Government Streets

on the Edge of Chinatown

Victoria's Chinatown is well worth a visit!

The Gate of Harmonious Interest

Victoria, B.C.

And for map-lovers like me,

here's Chinatown's place in space!

Location of Victoria, British Columbia

wikimedia

Vancouver Island, British Columbia

nanaimo-bed-breakfast

285 mi or 460 km in length and 62 mi or100 km width (at its widest) 

a coastline length of 2,138 mi or 3,400 km

an area of 12,355 square miles of 32,000 square kilometers

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Plaque on Fisgard Street

A map showing the location of the Johnson Street Ravine 

simonfraseruniversity  (4th photo down in the picture scroll on the right)