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the only European settlement of any 
size in the region, as prospectors 
and miners flooded north after the 
1849 California gold rush petered 
out. Many of them were of Chinese 
ancestry who in Victoria established 
Canada’s first Chinatown.
“At the very beginning of our 1858 
gold rush, almost everybody who 
came here came up from California, 
including the Chinese,” says historian 
and tour guide John Adams, who 
has authored a lavishly illustrated 
coffee-table book of Chinatown’s 
history. “But within a year or two, 
people started to come here directly. 
So eventually, quite soon, there was 
a major link between Hong Kong and 
Victoria. The link to San Francisco 
was still quite strong.”
The Allure of Chinatown
Chinese gold seekers originally 
set up tents and shacks along a 
ravine that is now part of Johnson 
Street. Eventually, Chinatown 
expanded north to Cormorant and 
Fisgard streets. By 1911, it had a 
population of 3,458, notes historian 
David Chuenyan Lai in one of his 
books. It was only around that 
time that Vancouver’s Chinatown 
overtook Victoria’s as the nation’s 
most populous.
Today, Chinatown is largely 
concentrated on Fisgard between 
Store Street and the Gate of 
Harmonious Interest at Government 
Street. However, a few landmarks 
are just outside the gate, such as the 
Chinese Public School, 636 Fisgard, 
and the Tam Kung Temple, 1713 
Government.
On the fourth floor of the Yen Wo 
Society Building, it is the oldest 
Chinese temple in Canada. Dating 
to 1860, the temple has been at 
its current location since 1912, 
according to the University of 
Victoria’s Chinatown history website.
No Chinatown excursion is 
complete without a wander down 
Fan Tan Alley with its eclectic shops.
“The Victoria Chinatown Museum 
is there. It’s actually a major 
storefront now in Fan Tan Alley,” says 
Adams, owner of Discover the Past 
Tours (discoverthepast.com).
On the opposite side of Fisgard is 
Dragon Alley, where a brass plaque 
says 16,000 Chinese established 
themselves in the district during 
the boom of 1881-1884. Near the 
Chinatown gate, another marker 
commemorates a 2014 apology from 
the B.C. government for the historic 
mistreatment of Chinese Canadians.
In recent years, “Chinatown 
has become much more diverse,” 
Adams says. It still has plenty 
of Chinese restaurants, such as 
historic Don Mee’s (donmee.com), 
but it now boasts a Filipino bakery, 
a French patisserie and Japanese, 
Vietnamese, and Indian restaurants.
“It’s more a fusion international 
cuisine now, but with the Chinese 
restaurants as the backbone of the 
place,” Adams says.
For another view of Victoria’s 
Chinese heritage, visit the historic 
Chinese Cemetery, a national historic 
site at Harling Point, 2026 Penzance 
Rd., about 3.5 miles from Chinatown.
Japanese Heritage
Victoria’s smaller ethnic Japanese 
community has also made its mark 
on the city. Evidence of that bursts 
into view each spring when more 
than 1,000 cherry trees bloom in 
5071 W. Saanich Road, Victoria, BC
Astronomy is an Adventure
Guided Daytime Tours 
Museum
Specialty Tours
Stargazing Experiences
www.centreoftheuniverse.org
Don Mee Seafood Restaurant ranks as a Chinatown 
favorite. (Downtown Victoria Business Association)
Gate of Harmonious Interest marks the entrance to Victoria’s Chinatown, the oldest in Canada.
(Destination Greater Victoria/Brandon McGeachie)

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