Vancouver - Fabulous Western Canada: Capture the Excitement of the Great West! - page 24

nightspots, the district has somehow
managed to retain a whiff of that “Wild
West” atmosphere.

to China. There are around 260,000
Canadian passport holders living in
Hong Kong today.

CHINATOWN DOWNTOWN

The 1858 Gold Rush in the hinterland
drew Chinese from San Francisco and
Hong Kong; in 1878, railway construc-
tion brought thousands more Chinese
to British Columbia. This community re-
sisted many hard blows that might have
ended its presence in the province. At
the beginning of the 20th century, the
Canadian government imposed a heavy
tax on new Chinese immigrants, and
then banned Chinese immigration alto-
gether from 1923 to 1947.

On May 23, 1887, the fi rst Canadian
Pacifi c transcontinental train arrived
from Montréal at the Vancouver ter-
minus. The railway company, which
had been granted an area roughly
corresponding to present-day down-
town Vancouver, began to develop its
property. To say that it played a major
role in the development of the city's
business district would be an under-
statement. Canadian Pacifi c truly built
this part of town, laying the streets and
erecting many very important build-
ings. Downtown Vancouver has been
developing continually since the 1960s.
It's a sign of the city's great economic
vitality, which can be attributed to
Asian capital and Canadians moving
westward to the mild climes of the
Pacifi c coast.

But while Vancouver's Chinatown
is one of the largest in all of North
America, much of Vancouver's Chinese
population now lives in Richmond,
south of Vancouver. After Great Britain
returned Hong Kong to China in 1997,
immigrants fl ocked to Vancouver. But
10 years later, the tide has turned, and
some immigrants who made their for-
tune in Canada are now returning

The Marine Building is a fi ne ex-
ample of the Art Deco style. It's char-
acterized by vertical lines, staggered
recesses, geometric ornamentation and
the absence of a cornice at the top of
the structure. Erected in 1929, the build-
ing lives up to its name in part because
it is lavishly decorated with nautical
motifs, and also because its occupants
are ship-owners and shipping compan-
ies.

The Provincial Law Courts , designed
by talented Vancouver architect Arthur
Erickson, were completed in 1978. The
vast interior space, accented in glass
and steal, is worth a visit. The court-

3

The gates of Chinatown. © Philippe Renault