When I was invited to spend a few days in Vancouver’s Chinatown, I realized how little I actually knew about the neighborhood beyond its surface. For many visitors, Chinatown is a place to stop for dim sum, take a photo at the Millennium Gate, and move on.
But in my travels, I’ve found that the places people rush through are often the ones with the most important stories.
So I spent three days getting to know one of Vancouver’s most historically significant neighbourhoods, shaped by Chinese immigrants who arrived in the late 1800s, many of whom came to work on the Canadian Pacific Railway.
Despite decades of exclusion and policies like the Chinese Head Tax, the community built a cultural and commercial centre that still anchors the neighborhood today.
Beyond the restaurants and landmarks, Chinatown is full of cultural spaces, family-run businesses, and layers of history that are easy to miss if you only pass through quickly.
This guide covers 8 things to do in Vancouver’s Chinatown that helped me better understand the neighbourhood.
- Where to Stay in Chinatown
- How to Get to Chinatown
- 8 Best Things to Do in Vancouver’s Chinatown
- 1. Go on a Historical Walking Tour
- 2. Visit the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden
- 3. Eat dim sum at New Town Bakery and Restaurant
- 4. Spend time at the Chinatown Storytelling Centre
- 5. Learn about tea at Treasure Green Tea Company
- 6. Browse local shops, restaurants, and markets
- 7. Stop by the Millennium Gate
- 8. Take an evening stroll to see the lights
- Vancouver’s Chinatown Is Worth More Than a Quick Stop
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Where to Stay in Chinatown
I was hosted by Keefer House, a boutique stay located right in Chinatown. Staying in the neighborhood changed how I experienced it.
Instead of simply dropping in for a meal or quick walk around, I had time to slow down, wander different streets, and get familiar with the businesses in the area throughout the day.
The location also makes it easy to explore the rest of Vancouver. Gastown, Downtown, and the waterfront are all either walkable or a short transit ride away, so it worked well as a base for exploring the city more broadly without needing a car.
The rooms at Keefer House are designed more like small apartments than standard hotel rooms. Depending on the room type, you’ll have a kitchenette, living area, and in-suite laundry, which is especially useful if you’re staying for more than a night or two.
The stay is also very tech-forward. Check-in is done online, your room key is digital, and support is available remotely. I tested this myself a few times and always got quick responses.
I stayed in a one-bedroom apartment while balancing both work and leisure travel in Vancouver, and it worked perfectly for that mix. I had space to work comfortably, cook a few meals, and settle into more of a routine while exploring the city.
One detail I especially appreciated about Keefer House was that the kitchenette came stocked with fresh coffee beans and everything needed to make pour-over coffee in the mornings.
How to Get to Chinatown
Vancouver’s Chinatown is located just east of Downtown Vancouver, making it easy to reach by public transit, on foot, or by bike.
If you’re already staying downtown or in Gastown, you can comfortably walk to Chinatown in about 15 to 25 minutes depending on where you’re starting from.
The easiest public transit option is the SkyTrain. Get off at Stadium–Chinatown Station, which is connected to the Expo Line. From there, it’s just a short walk into the heart of the neighborhood along Pender Street. Several city bus routes also run through or nearby Chinatown.
If you’re arriving by car, there are paid street parking spots and parkades in the area, though parking can fill up quickly on weekends, especially around lunch and dinner hours.
Personally, I don’t think a car is necessary for visiting Chinatown or exploring central Vancouver in general. The neighborhood is pretty compact and very walkable.
8 Best Things to Do in Vancouver’s Chinatown
From museums and tea shops to dim sum spots and historic landmarks, here are the best places to visit and things to do in Chinatown.
1. Go on a Historical Walking Tour
A Historical Chinatown Walking Tour with Judy Lam is one of the best ways to understand how Vancouver’s Chinatown came to be, from the arrival of Chinese railway workers in the late 1800s to the impact of the Chinese Head Tax and exclusion laws.
Judy’s tours focus on way more than just dates and facts. She weaves personal stories, community history, and present-day realities into the tour, so that you walk away with a really in-depth understanding of Vancouver’s Chinatown.
Our walking tour began over dim sum at one of Chinatown’s longest-standing restaurants. Because of my severe allergies, eating the food felt a little too risky for me, so I stuck to tea while the rest of the group shared dishes around the table.
As we enjoyed tea and food, Judy explained the history of Chinatowns around the world. She went over how they formed, why they were needed, and how different immigration policies shaped them. This gave us really helpful context before we even stepped out onto the street.
As we walked through the neighborhood, Judy pointed out details I absolutely would have missed on my own, from clan association buildings to narrow alleyways that hold complicated histories tied to migration, discrimination, and community survival.
Because of her longstanding relationships within the community, we were also able to enter spaces that are not typically open to the public.
One of the most memorable stops was inside a society building where elderly community members gather to play mahjong. We quietly popped in for a few minutes and watched the games unfolding around the room.
It was really nice to be able to experience a real community space that continues to serve an important social role for many seniors in Chinatown.
I loved the Historical Chinatown Walking Tour because Judy made the history feel personal rather than abstract, and the tour completely changed how I understood Vancouver’s Chinatown and the people who built it.
My biggest takeaway was how important it is to look below the surface of a neighbourhood. Vancouver’s Chinatown is a neighbourhood that’s been shaped by generations of resilience, activism, displacement, and change. It holds a lot of history and significance.
Walking around Chinatown with Judy Lam
2. Visit the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden
Right in the middle of Vancouver’s Chinatown, the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden is a really calm escape from the business of the city.
The garden was built in 1986 by artisans from Suzhou, China, using traditional techniques and materials. It was the first classical Chinese garden built outside of China, and its design is rooted in Taoist principles of balance and harmony.
Unlike Western-style gardens that are designed to be symmetrical, this garden is designed to feel natural and constantly changing depending on where you stand.
Rocks, plants, water, windows, and pathways are all intentionally placed to frame different perspectives as you move through the garden.
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden isn’t huge, so you don’t need hours here. I’d recommend spending about 45 minutes to an hour wandering through the space at your own pace.
You can book a ticket to visit the gardens in advance through the Dr Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden website, or buy one at the entrance when you arrive.
3. Eat dim sum at New Town Bakery and Restaurant
New Town Bakery and Restaurant is a long-standing, casual spot known for BBQ pork buns, egg tarts, and classic dim sum. This family-owned restaurant has been around since the 1980s, and it’s widely loved in the neighborhood.
If you’ve never had dim sum before, it’s a style of Cantonese dining made up of small shared plates, traditionally served with tea.
The phrase dim sum roughly translates to “touch the heart,” and the meal is as much about gathering and conversation as it is about the food itself. Dishes are usually ordered gradually and shared around the table, rather than everyone ordering their own separate meal.
Dim sum is usually eaten earlier in the day, especially late morning through early afternoon, and weekends are often the busiest time to go.
Part of the experience is trying a mix of things. BBQ pork buns, shrimp dumplings, siu mai, rice noodle rolls, and egg tarts are all good places to start if you’re unfamiliar with the menu.
What makes dim sum worth trying in Chinatown isn’t just the food itself, but the role it has long played in community life. Restaurants like New Town have been gathering places for families, friends, and multi-generational meals for decades.
4. Spend time at the Chinatown Storytelling Centre
The Chinatown Storytelling Centre is a small museum that focuses on the history and lived experiences of Chinese Canadians in Vancouver.
Through photos, recreated rooms, oral histories, videos, and personal artifacts, the exhibits trace how Chinese communities helped shape the city while also facing exclusion, displacement, and discriminatory policies like the Chinese Head Tax and the Chinese Exclusion Act.
What I loved about this museum is that many of the exhibits focus on individual families, business owners, workers, and community organizers. Telling history through the stories of real people makes the impacts of immigration policies, discrimination, and community-building feel more tangible.
Instead of presenting Chinatown as a static historic site, the museum shows how the neighborhood was shaped by real people navigating difficult systems while still building lives, businesses, and community connections in the city.
I’d recommend visiting the Chinatown Storytelling Centre earlier in your time in Chinatown if possible, because it adds context to the streets, businesses, and buildings you’ll see afterwards.
The museum isn’t huge, so you can plan to spend about an hour here.
5. Learn about tea at Treasure Green Tea Company
Treasure Green Tea Company is a long-running tea shop in Chinatown that specializes in traditional Chinese teas. The staff are knowledgeable and happy to walk you through different varieties, how they are prepared, and where they come from.
If you are not familiar with Chinese tea, this is a good place to learn! You can sample different teas, ask questions, and get a better sense of the differences between styles like pu-erh, oolong, jasmine, and green tea.
Although iced teas aren’t traditional, Treasure Green Tea Company makes a couple of them, and they are really good, so be sure to taste at least one! My favourite was the Organic White Mojito iced tea.
The shop also offers an Art of Tea experience, where you can sit down for a guided tea-making and tasting session. During the experience, you learn about traditional tea preparation techniques, tea etiquette, and how different teas are brewed and served.
It’s a nice way to slow down for an hour while learning more about a practice that has long been part of Chinese cultural and social life.
Inside the Treasure Green Tea Company
6. Browse local shops, restaurants, and markets
One of the best ways to spend time in Vancouver’s Chinatown is simply by walking around without too much of a plan.
Head along Pender Street and through the surrounding side streets to find herbal medicine shops, produce markets, bakeries, and small specialty stores that have been part of the neighbourhood for decades.
Many of these businesses primarily serve local residents, which gives the area a different feel from more commercial parts of the city.
For food, I’d recommend a few different spots depending on what you’re in the mood for. Mello is famous for its soft brioche donuts, which are made fresh every day.
Between 2 Buns is known for serving one of the most talked-about burgers in Vancouver, and after trying it myself, I can see why. The menu focuses on smash burgers, and simple sides like cheese fries and onion rings. I ordered the smash burger and it absolutely lived up to the hype.
Just be prepared to wait a bit. This place is almost always busy, especially around dinner time, but the line moves fairly quickly.
For a great dinner, head to Pizza Coming Soon. The name is a bit of an ongoing joke because, despite being called Pizza Coming Soon, there’s actually no pizza on the menu. Instead, they serve Japanese-inspired bar bites and small plates in a fun, retro-feeling space.
Oh, and if you love a good coffee like I do, head to Propaganda Coffee. They serve excellent espresso drinks and pour-over coffee in a cozy, minimalist space.
7. Stop by the Millennium Gate
Located at the western entrance to Chinatown on Pender Street, the Millennium Gate is one of the neighbourhood’s most recognizable landmarks.
It was built in 2002 as part of a revitalization project marking the turn of the millennium, and was designed using traditional Chinese architectural elements, including symbolic colours, stone lions, tiled roofing, and detailed carvings.
Like many traditional Chinese gates, or paifang, it was built not just as decoration but as a symbolic entrance into the neighborhood.
The gate reflects Chinatown’s cultural identity and long history within Vancouver, while also acknowledging the generations of Chinese Canadians who helped shape the area despite decades of discrimination and exclusionary policies.
The Millennium Gate
8. Take an evening stroll to see the lights
You’ll definitely want to spend at least one evening in Chinatown because the neighborhood feels completely different after dark. The streets start to glow with red lanterns, neon lights, and illuminated signs along Pender Street and the surrounding side streets.
One building you shouldn’t miss at night is the Jack Chow Building. The bright neon installation wrapping the building has become one of the most recognizable sights in Chinatown, and it’s a reminder of the neighborhood’s long relationship with neon signage.
Years ago, Vancouver’s Chinatown was filled with much larger neon signs. Beginning in the mid-1900s, they became a major part of the neighborhood’s identity.
This was in part because Chinese-owned businesses often faced barriers advertising elsewhere in the city, so Chinatown developed its own distinct visual style. Over time, many of the original signs disappeared due to aging infrastructure, maintenance costs, changing businesses, and city regulations.
More recently, there’s been an effort to preserve some of this history through restored signs and new lighting projects.
Walking through Chinatown at night gives you a small glimpse into what the neighborhood once looked like, while also showing how it continues to evolve today.
Evening lights in Chinatown
Vancouver’s Chinatown Is Worth More Than a Quick Stop
Vancouver’s Chinatown is a community that has faced decades of discrimination, disinvestment, and pressure from urban development projects, while still continuing to fight for its place in the city.
In the 1960s and 1970s, there were plans to build a freeway system through parts of Chinatown and neighbouring communities, which would have displaced residents and businesses.
Community organizers and local residents pushed back against those plans, and their activism played a major role in stopping the project.
Today, Vancouver’s Chinatown is recognized as a National Historic Site of Canada because of its cultural, architectural, and historical significance. But it’s also still a living neighborhood, shaped by the people who continue to run businesses, gather in community spaces, and advocate for its future.
If you visit, I’d encourage you to spend more than just an hour here. Wander slowly, support local businesses where you can, and take the time to learn some of the history behind the streets you’re walking through.
Want to have a more thoughtful trip? Here are some of my responsible travel tips to get you started.
- Learn the main tips for being a responsible tourist.
- Use sustainable tourism tips to travel eco-consciously.
- Travel to places that aren’t facing overtourism to reduce your impact.
- Be aware of cultural appropriation and avoid it.
- Use second city tourism when you do want to visit more popular places.
- Be thoughtful in how you shop for souvenirs.
- Avoid tourism leakage by supporting local businesses.
- Consider your travel privileges.
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