LocationVictoria, British Columbia | Duration1 hour 30 Minutes (Approx.) | 20.94 View price |
Historical Chinatown Walking Tour - Learn The Culture And Colors Of The Chinese Community In Victoria
Are you visiting the Vancouver Island for the first time? Want to visit Chinatown Victoria, BC first in your Vancouver tour? It is the oldest Chinatown in Vancouver located on Fisgard Street and appeals to travelers with a vibrant community rich with color and life. You can explore a wide variety of shops and restaurants and immerse yourself in the color and culture of the community. Spending an afternoon stroll through the streets and absorbing the sights and smells of Chinatown is a memorable experience.
Consider some of the streets on the edge of Victoria and you will find the historical Chinatown walking tour a worthy experience. You get a chance to explore the rich history of the site and the colorful narrow brick alleys will brighten your day. A brisk walk through the streets will enrich you with the 100-year history and the city's dark past will surprise you.
Historical Chinatown walks
A 1-5 hour guided walking tour Chinatown will explore the historic locality and its celebrated alleys. Your guide will narrate the enthralling tales of the community that helped build the area. You might hear some elating and tragic stories of historical Chinatown during this tour.
Old town dining trip
This Chinatown Victoria walking tour will help you explore the rich history and local colors of the area. Walking through the city's historic areas explores some parts of the oldest Chinatown in North America. The tour covers the Victoria Public Market, Fan Tan Alley, Emporium Dragon Alley, and more.
Fan Tan Alley
It is the narrowest street in Canada located off the Fisgard Steet and it was named for the game played in gambling dens inside the alley. Storefronts in the alley had opium dens, many shops, and restaurants. Opium was legal in Canada whereas Gambling was not.
Market Square
History says that a valley and stream ran through the Market Square that separated Johnson Street from Pandora Ave. When the first Chinese people arrived in 1858, a major part of them chose to settle in the northern part of the stream. It stays away from the center of town and was the beginning of the oldest Chinatown in Victoria. The stream is filled in and many buildings built between 1800-1900 have become a major part of Downtown Victoria. Eye-catching brick buildings are compounded with the inner block to create a pleasing square open area where visitors can sit, relax, and listen to live music while sipping a beer.
Before Vancouver was founded in the 1880s, Victoria served as the supply hub for the gold rush and expanded to become the largest city in British Columbia. For hundreds of Chinese, Chinatown in Victoria served as their home base. A few opened their own shops, eateries, laundromats, and farms. Some of them worked as cooks, servants, and gardeners in non-Chinese people's homes in the city. Many of them labored for others in the logging camps, coal mines, fish canneries, and gold fields outside of the city. Chinatown in Victoria was the largest in Canada for a long time. Even if there aren't as many Chinese people living there as in other cities, Victoria will always be known for having the oldest Chinatown in Canada.
The most interesting structure in Victoria is the Chinese Public School. Find out why it was constructed and why its elaborate architecture conceals much more than what first greets the eye.
Without a question, the most well-known location in Chinatown, if not all of Victoria, is Fan Tan Alley. Fan Tan Alley still has a lot of abandoned casinos. You may incorporate a fan tan demonstration into your trip.
Your pick-up location and time will be mentioned in your booking confirmation email