I have mixed in some of my summer shots for the China Town blog as we have had so much rain and dark gloomy weather here lately. I like to recycle some of my summer shots in the winter. These two pictures show the Gates of Harmonious Interest built in Suzhou.
The Victoria China Town is the oldest in Canada and second oldest in North America as San Francisco is older. It all started around 1858 when there was a gold rush in the Fraser Canyon. The miners came from California and then the Chinese came across the Pacific to Vancouver Island on their way to the gold fields. They heard about the gold and were escaping war, famine and drought in China. About one third of the miners were Chinese and most came from Guangdong in South China. Then later the Canadian Pacific Railway brought in Chinese workers. They were mostly men and would try to bring in their families later.
As I wandered around the streets, I stopped here and listened to these talented buskers...the young guitar player had become quite a local favorite.
In the early years there were rows of wood huts here and it had a reputation of having gambling and opium dens.
In 1911 China Town was at it's peak and covered six city blocks and had around 3,158 people there. Later on it got smaller in size.
Here we see one of the amazing fruit and vegetable stands.
These shots show Fan Tan Alley.
This was the original gambling district. Now it has small shops.
This is known as the narrowest street in Canada and it is only 0.9 metres wide in some areas.
More of the open markets.
Some samples of the interior of the shops.
I have not seen it but apparently there is the oldest Buddhist Temple in Canada here.
The area is now revitalized with shops and studios and is a major tourist attraction.
I hope you like our China Town and hello to all the ABC group of bloggers.