Hey guys,
I'm happy to share with you some photoshoots I took while I was taking a walk in the neighbourhood of Chinatown from Victoria, British Columbia.
Did you know Victoria's Chinatown on the Vancover Island is THE OLDEST CHINATOWN IN CANADA and THE SECOND OLDEST IN NORTH AMERICA? That's pretty exciting :D
Didnt know this the moment I was there, enjoying the sights of the town, but yeey! I feel so lucky I had the chance to visit it.
It was a beautiful sunny Saturday when we set our alarm clock at 4 a.m. in the morning LOL. We had to drive from Chilliwack to Vancouver to take the ferry and the drive was around one hour and 15 min.
This place is very popular with residents and visitors all over the world.
Initially a collection of crude wooden huts, Victoria’s Chinatown rapidly evolved into a dense neighbourhood of businesses, theatres, schools, churches, temples and a hospital. It did gain a dark, seedy reputation however, because of opium factories, gambling dens and brothels. Chinatown grew steadily over the years until its peak in 1911, at which time it occupied an area of about six city blocks in the north end of downtown Victoria.
Victoria’s revitalized Chinatown is a popular area for tourists as well as for the artistic community. The focus is the 500-600 block of Fisgard Street, including famously narrow Fan Tan Alley, the old Chinese School and a small selection of historic buildings and Chinese businesses. Many historic buildings have been well preserved in Chinatown and also in the larger area it once occupied along Government Street, Herald Street, Store Street, and Pandora Avenue. The modern Chinatown continues to be a key component of Downtown Victoria with many tourist attractions, hotels, grocery stores, bars, restaurants, theatres, services, and shopping areas nearby. The district was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1995.
source here
There are so many little shops from restaurants, groceries, clothes to gifts and crafts.
We wanted to eat at Nubo but the place had a huge line of people to the entrance and we gave up. Easily lol:)) So we had a drink at a little street restaurant (fast food maybe?). We had a nice meeting with a hungry seagull.
One thing I regret is that we didnt spend the night here. There are so many beautiful places to visit and we stayed only for one day. It's been a full beautiful day but still, I know I've missed some cool sights of this Island.
So I didnt have the chance to try the food here in Chinatown....instead we ate at Earles that day.
The place is nice, definetely a must see if you are in town.
Too bad I didnt take more photos and I didnt know about the famous Fan Tan Alley, though I've seen the sign damn...
I just enjoyed the vibes, the people, the culture, the walking.
Anyways, we had a really good time and what I liked the most are these chinese red lamps. I love to see them in asian restaurants too, they give such cool vibes. I think they are so beautiful and so representative for asian culture.
What do you think? Did you visit a place like this before? It was my first time visiting a Chinatown (I was only passing by the one in Vancouver) but I liked the vibes and I would go visit another one someday.
In Romania we dont have one, they are quite few in all Europe (many are in UK and France, some in Spain, Belgium, Greece, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Netherlands)
Thank you guys for reading,
Have a great day!
love missdeli ❤️
(This is me on a Taxy Boat in Victoria. hihi )