Victoria — Old Town, Chinatown & Inner Harbour
Gate of Harmonious Interest
Listen at the stop, then read the transcript and follow the sources behind the story.
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Transcript
The Gate of Harmonious Interest marks the entrance to Victoria's Chinatown, but the gate itself is modern, built during revitalization in the 1980s.
The neighbourhood is much older.
Chinese migration to Victoria expanded rapidly during the Fraser River gold rush beginning in 1858. Victoria became the principal Pacific entry point for Chinese migrants to British Columbia before Vancouver overtook it later in the century.
Parks Canada identifies this as the oldest surviving Chinatown in Canada.
The community developed shops, lodging houses, associations, temples, schools and import businesses while residents faced severe discrimination.
A ceremonial gate can make the area look like a cultural attraction created for visitors. Reverse that assumption. The gate was added to a neighbourhood that had already survived more than a century of exclusion, economic change and redevelopment pressure.
The heritage is the community. The arch is the signpost.