Wonderful tour! I just saw a tour of Flushing, NY Chinatown and this one seems a lot nicer--less crowded, more airy, more 'organic' with the beautiful murals. I am sure like many other sections of the city it is gentrified but it seems much less so than Flushing. Your tour was brief but much more helpful and interesting than the one I saw for Flushing, with the footage of festivals, financial and living stats, and a little history mixed in. I like how you also provide a map to help orient viewers and offer context. The Chinatown Chamber of Commerce should pay you for this! Thanks again for a nice tour.
Chinatown is a misnomer, since there are pockets in the city that make up the Toronto Chinese tapestry. Aside from the Spadina-Dunads corridor, The District still contains Yueh Tung, Moon Palace & Hong Fat (relocated as New Hong Fat.) There is the Broadview-Gerrard corridor that has some bakeries, supermarket and restaurant, boasting the Chinatown Gate of the 80s. In Mississauga, there is the 9 Dragons Wall, and plaza with a few Chinese shops left in business. And then, there is Scarborough, Markham, and Richmond Hill, where Chinese influence can be seen with churches, temples, businesses, and cultural centres potmarked across each municipality. You can say, if combined, you can create a Chinese City with the population numbers, and structures.
Downtown (or West) Chinatown wasn't actually the first. Behind where City Hall is now was actually where Chinatown was originally located, but slowly moved West to where it is now. If you walk along that stretch of Dundas, from University to Bay, you can just see some of the facade still there. Lichee Gardens on Elizabeth, long gone. And the more recently shuttered Lai Wah Heen at the former Hilton downtown.
Chinatown is my favorite place to visit in Toronto. Easily accessible by transit. Lots of different stores to experience. The only downside is that the two big malls in Chinatown feel rather archaic and empty. Then again that can be explained by the Chinese population all going up to Markham where they have more of a presence.
Amanda ! I was sitting in bed and I saw this small thumbnail and I said to myself it sure looks like Amanda and it was haha What happened to realistate? Good to see you! It's Leslie from DMH haha
it bugs me SOMETIMES as a vietnamese that we always get overshadowed by the chinese just cause they have a bigger population. Vietnamese new year is also chinese new year. China town which ofter has a significant vietnamese restaurant presence is of course called china town. But i guess minorities never get their way so c'est la vie
Thank you for sharing and for your comment it’s good to know I appreciate it and I did briefly mention the presence of Vietnamese restaurants in the video I released today about the pros and cons of this Neighbourhood.
In fairness, immigration from Vietnam, even in its peak years, was never large enough to create its own geographical ‘community’ similar to, say, a Chinatown, Greektown, Little Italy, Koreatown, etc. And all of those hubs have actually become more diverse as second and third generations of those cultures have become more successful in their careers and moved elsewhere, and a mix of immigrants and even Canadian-born people have moved in. You can find only a handful of Greek restaurants and businesses (and Greek people!) in Greektown now. Same for Little Italy. Koreatown fares only slightly better in terms of businesses and restaurants, but few Koreans live there anymore. Chinatown (which is actually West Chinatown since the original was largely expropriated in the 50’s to build Toronto City Hall) owes much of its ‘feel’ of the last several decades to Hong Kong immigrants from the 60’s/70’s up through the 90’s and early 00’s, but immigration from there has lessened significantly over the years, so the culturally-adjacent Vietnamese saw excellent opportunities to move in as younger generations of Chinese moved up to Agincourt in the 80’s, and finally Markham in the 80’s and especially 90’s. But as much as it would be amazing to see a ‘Vietnamtown’ or ‘Little Saigon’ in Toronto, at this point, it’s almost impossible for any one ethnic group to ‘take over’ or build their own wholly exclusive geographic enclave. The only recent example of that, I suppose, is Brampton, where a super-concentrated influx of people from one culture (more or less) - thanks to our lax immigration and post-secondary education systems in recent years - has brought with it a whole host of problems that have in turn spread across the country.
My maternal grandparents lived next to an apartment complex on Huron st, and there was a couple of Vietnamese immigrant ladies staying at one of the ground level rooms. They got to know each other, and my grandfather got them jobs at one of the restaurants he worked in at the time to help them get established. In return, they taught my grandmother how to make their spring rolls, to which I now have that recipe. Yes, all things Vietnamese are overshadowed by the strong Chinese presence. But the same can be said about almost all other Asian identities. This is slowly changing.
Wonderful tour! I just saw a tour of Flushing, NY Chinatown and this one seems a lot nicer--less crowded, more airy, more 'organic' with the beautiful murals. I am sure like many other sections of the city it is gentrified but it seems much less so than Flushing. Your tour was brief but much more helpful and interesting than the one I saw for Flushing, with the footage of festivals, financial and living stats, and a little history mixed in. I like how you also provide a map to help orient viewers and offer context. The Chinatown Chamber of Commerce should pay you for this! Thanks again for a nice tour.
@@joeyp1927 thanks for the kind words
Chinatown is a misnomer, since there are pockets in the city that make up the Toronto Chinese tapestry. Aside from the Spadina-Dunads corridor, The District still contains Yueh Tung, Moon Palace & Hong Fat (relocated as New Hong Fat.) There is the Broadview-Gerrard corridor that has some bakeries, supermarket and restaurant, boasting the Chinatown Gate of the 80s. In Mississauga, there is the 9 Dragons Wall, and plaza with a few Chinese shops left in business. And then, there is Scarborough, Markham, and Richmond Hill, where Chinese influence can be seen with churches, temples, businesses, and cultural centres potmarked across each municipality. You can say, if combined, you can create a Chinese City with the population numbers, and structures.
Downtown (or West) Chinatown wasn't actually the first. Behind where City Hall is now was actually where Chinatown was originally located, but slowly moved West to where it is now. If you walk along that stretch of Dundas, from University to Bay, you can just see some of the facade still there. Lichee Gardens on Elizabeth, long gone. And the more recently shuttered Lai Wah Heen at the former Hilton downtown.
Chinatown is my favorite place to visit in Toronto. Easily accessible by transit. Lots of different stores to experience. The only downside is that the two big malls in Chinatown feel rather archaic and empty. Then again that can be explained by the Chinese population all going up to Markham where they have more of a presence.
I’m stuck in Toronto for long weekend, it’s cold today and I just do not know where to go. I’m craving good street food, but where?😅
Amanda ! I was sitting in bed and I saw this small thumbnail and I said to myself it sure looks like Amanda and it was haha What happened to realistate? Good to see you! It's Leslie from DMH haha
Hey Leslie! Hope your doing well lol funny you found my videos
You talk too much 🦜
it bugs me SOMETIMES as a vietnamese that we always get overshadowed by the chinese just cause they have a bigger population. Vietnamese new year is also chinese new year. China town which ofter has a significant vietnamese restaurant presence is of course called china town. But i guess minorities never get their way so c'est la vie
Thank you for sharing and for your comment it’s good to know I appreciate it and I did briefly mention the presence of Vietnamese restaurants in the video I released today about the pros and cons of this Neighbourhood.
In fairness, immigration from Vietnam, even in its peak years, was never large enough to create its own geographical ‘community’ similar to, say, a Chinatown, Greektown, Little Italy, Koreatown, etc. And all of those hubs have actually become more diverse as second and third generations of those cultures have become more successful in their careers and moved elsewhere, and a mix of immigrants and even Canadian-born people have moved in. You can find only a handful of Greek restaurants and businesses (and Greek people!) in Greektown now. Same for Little Italy. Koreatown fares only slightly better in terms of businesses and restaurants, but few Koreans live there anymore. Chinatown (which is actually West Chinatown since the original was largely expropriated in the 50’s to build Toronto City Hall) owes much of its ‘feel’ of the last several decades to Hong Kong immigrants from the 60’s/70’s up through the 90’s and early 00’s, but immigration from there has lessened significantly over the years, so the culturally-adjacent Vietnamese saw excellent opportunities to move in as younger generations of Chinese moved up to Agincourt in the 80’s, and finally Markham in the 80’s and especially 90’s. But as much as it would be amazing to see a ‘Vietnamtown’ or ‘Little Saigon’ in Toronto, at this point, it’s almost impossible for any one ethnic group to ‘take over’ or build their own wholly exclusive geographic enclave. The only recent example of that, I suppose, is Brampton, where a super-concentrated influx of people from one culture (more or less) - thanks to our lax immigration and post-secondary education systems in recent years - has brought with it a whole host of problems that have in turn spread across the country.
My maternal grandparents lived next to an apartment complex on Huron st, and there was a couple of Vietnamese immigrant ladies staying at one of the ground level rooms. They got to know each other, and my grandfather got them jobs at one of the restaurants he worked in at the time to help them get established. In return, they taught my grandmother how to make their spring rolls, to which I now have that recipe. Yes, all things Vietnamese are overshadowed by the strong Chinese presence. But the same can be said about almost all other Asian identities. This is slowly changing.