One of the oldest neighbourhoods in Vancouver, Chinatown is where the first taste of Chinese cuisine was introduced. The first wave of Chinese workers landed back in the 1880’s to construct a segment of the national railway. Only able to work in restaurant and service industries after the railway was complete, Chinatown became a neighbourhood of business opportunity. Restaurants and businesses started popping up all along Pender and Keefer Street. Cooking dishes from home with locally grown ingredients, Chinese food as most people know is really Chinese-Canadian food. Did you know beef and broccoli isn’t a traditional dish in China?

Chinatown has persevered through riots in 1907 and protested to city wide ban on BBQ meats to establish a thriving restaurant scene. Fine supper clubs like Ming’s and Bamboo Terrace had neon signs that lit up the nightlife along Pender Street in the 1950’s. Over decades, Chinatown still offers some of the best food and has become a part growing up in Vancouver. Long standing establishments such as Newtown Bakery and Ba Le continue to offer authentic Asian cuisine at an affordable price.

Vancity Original® pays respect and acknowledges some of the big players that introduced foods that have become staples in the standard Vancouver diet.

Take-Out will be part of the Vancity Original® for Chinatown Collection slated for a Chinese New Year 2015 release. Available exclusively in-store at Dipt and online at www.vancityoriginal.com.

Written by Edmund Ma

Edmund is a Kung Fu instructor and community researcher in Chinatown. You can follow him on Instagram @edmundmma.