A Chinatown Walking Tour with Kevin Chong

By Lainie Burgess, www.ladybugonaleaf.ca

Contributing Writer for Word

Kevin Chong Takes Word on a Walk

June 3rd, 2023 turned out to be the perfect day to go on Word Vancouver’s Chinatown Storytelling Walking Tour with Kevin Chong, the author of seven books, including his latest novel “The Double Life of Benson Yu” (Simon and Schuster).

The Chinatown Storytelling Centre Exhibits and Gift shop are not to miss!

The walking tour officially started at 11 am, but Word members who showed up a half an hour early were graciously allowed free entrance into the Chinatown Storytelling Centre, a beautifully appointed space dedicated to sharing the cultural stories and contributions made by Chinese Canadians who lived and worked in Vancouver’s historical Chinatown.

I was so glad I showed up early to walk around the Centre, and appreciate how much life the Centre brought to their exhibits.

Some of the exhibits on display showcasing Chinese Canadians in Vancouver’s Chinatown

The exhibits were highly engaging and informative, reflecting the vibrancy of Chinatown’s culture.

You can interact with many of the exhibits. I especially loved the phone booth display, which allows you to hear the voice of the person sharing their story.

I will be back to explore the exhibits in more detail, and will definitely be exploring that gift shop more!

Kevin takes us on a 4 stop journey, sharing the history, current issues, as well as his own personal stories of Vancouver’s Historical Chinatown

Kevin starts the tour by guiding members outside into the bright sunshine. We walked a few blocks to our first stop, Chinatown’s Gates. He says that he chose this as the first stop because of the importance significance the Gates have to Chinatown and explains how they connect Chinatown’s past and present.

Word members walked around the downtown streets taking in Chinatown’s monuments and architecture, as Kevin shared his personal stories on growing up in the neighbourhood.

Kevin highlighted some of the important architectural details of Chinatown as the neighbourhood bustled around Word Members.

Kevin also touched on the current political and social challenges facing the neighbourhood during the tour, using the fourth stop at Chinatown Memorial Plaza as a prime example of some of these current day challenges.

Kevin shares his commitment to keeping his personal ties to the neighbourhood strong by being active in the community, such as playing ball in the park across from the war memorial regularly.

Thanks Word and Kevin for the fun (and educational!) walking tour around Chinatown!

The walking tour wrapped up at the famous NewTown Bakery, a perfect way to end this fun walk around Chinatown. A Word Member mentioned how fantastic she thought this walking tour had been and hoped that there are more activities like in the neighbourhood. I couldn’t agree more, and look forward to coming back to explore Chinatown again this summer.

I hope you too, spend some time visiting this historical Vancouver neighbourhood, and learn more about the vibrant cultural history of Chinese Canadians in Vancouver.