Gastown & Chinatown
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
80 ©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd Gastown & Chinatown GASTOWN | CHINATOWN Neighborhood Top Five 1 Tucking into top British 3 Stuffing your face 5 Diving into the sights, Columbia (BC) craft beers with Vancouver’s best sounds and aromas of the at the Alibi Room (p89), sandwiches at Meat & bustling Chinatown Night preferably while rubbing Bread (p84). Market (p84). shoulders with the locals 4 Taking the eye-opening at one of the long, candlelit summertime Sins of the tables. City walking tour at the 2 Sinking into a state of Vancouver Police Museum calm at the Dr Sun Yat-Sen (p82). Classical Chinese Garden (p83). Vancouver Harbour e# 0 500 m W 0 0.25 miles ate t W rfro S H nt e a Rd w s o ti Portside Park aySt n ilw H g GASTOWN Ra s DuDOWNTOWN S # t Water St 1 Alexander St n s m u ir Powell St S t E Oppenheimer t S 3# Co s Cambie St rdo Park rd Victory va St a Abbott St h Dunlevy Ave ic t Square Main4 St # Columbia St t S Princess Ave R Heatley Ave n S o E Hastings St Seymour St l t l il W P en a Gore Ave 000000 m der r 000000W Georgia Sta St r 000000 H 000000 E Pender Ca St 000000 t 000000 S K CHINATOWN 000000Library Sq ty eef STRATHCONA 000000 t er St 2# Keefer St 000000 ea D 000000 B u Andy 5# MacLean 000000R n o s Livingstone Park b G m Georgia St so e u Park o ir 000n r Via YALETOWN000S gi duc Union St S 000t a V t m 000 iaduct it 000 h 000 Hawks Ave e Prior St S St t d Seas lv ide Pr n B omenade d ic io lv if t B c a a t o P Q Ma S lkin p u Ave Ex e b e Thornton c tn S S Park t Main St National Ave False Creek Thornto Ter mina l Ave Cambie Bridge For more detail of this area see Map p272 and p273 A 81 Lonely Planet’s Explore Gastown & Chinatown Top Tip Radiating from the ‘Gassy’ Jack statue in brick-paved Gastown and Chinatown are Maple Tree Sq, the main thoroughfares of compact Gas- part of the Downtown East- town are Powell, Water, Carrall and Alexander Sts. You’ll side, which some locals will find plenty of shops and restaurants on Water, while tell you is a dangerous area. Carrall is home to a more recent wave of hip bars, stores These are generally locals and coffee shops. Wandering south on this street, you’ll who haven’t been here. The enter the heart of the Downtown Eastside, where many neighborhood certainly of the neighborhood’s poorest residents reside. Hastings has many social challenges St runs across Carrall and is the area’s main drag, ser- and a high proportion of residents with addiction or G viced by several bus routes. A block further south brings asto you to Chinatown, denoted by its flare-roofed buildings mental-health issues. You’re and dragon-topped street lamps. The entire Gastown far more likely, however, to be asked for ‘spare change’ w and Chinatown district is easily explored on foot and N makes for a fascinating afternoon of urban wandering. while in the city center, and & C Couple this with an end-of-day drink or dinner in some muggings in Downtown of the city’s best bars and restaurants. In summer, come Eastside are exceptionally hinato back for the weekend Chinatown Night Market on Keef- rare. Stay street smart and er St, between Columbia and Main Sts. avoid back alleys and side streets (especially at night). w N Local Life 5 Best Places ¨ Bars Avoid downtown’s Granville Strip drunks on a to Eat bar crawl of Gastown’s top watering holes. You’ll find ¨ Bao Bei (p89) hipster locals as well as more BC craft beer than you ¨ can shake a merry stick at. L’Abbatoir (p87) ¨ Rainier Provisions (p84) ¨ Shops Chinatown is teeming with traditional grocery stores, where looking is just as much fun as ¨ Campagnolo (p89) buying. You’ll find interesting items such as lizards ¨ Meat & Bread (p84) splayed on a stick. For a different scene, peruse the cool For reviews, see p84A indie boutiques of Gastown. ¨ History Vancouver’s best heritage buildings line this area, from tile-topped apothecaries to handsome 6 Best Places century-old stone edifices repurposed as bars and to Drink restaurants. ¨ Alibi Room (p89) ¨ Diamond (p91) Getting There & Away ¨ Keefer Bar (p93) ¨ Brickhouse (p93) ¨ Train SkyTrain’s Waterfront Station is at the western ¨ Guilt & Co (p91) edge of Gastown, near the start of Water St. Stadium- Chinatown Station is on the edge of Chinatown and a For reviews, see p89A 10-minute stroll south of Gastown. ¨ Bus Bus 14 heads northwards from downtown’s Best Places Granville St along Hastings, which makes it handy for 7 both Gastown and Chinatown. Buses 3, 4, 7 and 8 also to Shop service the area. ¨ Erin Templeton (p95) ¨ Car There is metered parking throughout Gastown ¨ John Fluevog Shoes (p95) and Chinatown, with some nonmetered parking east of ¨ Orling & Wu (p96) Main St. ¨ Deluxe Junk (p96) ¨ Solder & Sons (p96) For reviews, see p95A.