Vancouver — Gastown & Chinatown
Pender Street Associations
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Transcript
Chinatown's upper-storey halls and association buildings are among its most important features. Clan, county and benevolent associations provided newcomers with housing help, employment contacts, dispute mediation, social life and sometimes burial arrangements.
They were community infrastructure in a society where mainstream institutions often excluded Chinese residents.
Parks Canada identifies the continued presence of these associations as a major reason Chinatown has national historic significance.
If you only look at ground-floor restaurants and shops, you miss half of Chinatown. The upper floors are where community governance happened.
That is a useful rule in any immigrant district: the most important room is often not the one designed for tourists.