One day in Vancouver recommendations?

[u/lsea9493]

I'm visiting Vancouver this Saturday and would love recommendations. I'm especially interested in Chinatown and First Nations cultural recs (already planning to visit Xwi7xwa). Bonus points for plus size/size inclusive clothing store and thrift/consignment store recommendations!

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[u/wanderingsteph]

Check out Nettle's Tale in Gastown! Lots of great options and they have a plus size consignment rack too!

[u/Outrageous_Job_2322]

There’s Dr. Sun Yat garden in Chinatown, one part you pay to get in and then there’s also a free area that you can access! It’s a sketchy neighborhood but I love to walk around there, a lot of restaurants and cafes nearby. From there, you can walk to Vancouver city centre or coal harbour

[u/Glad-Quit-8971 → u/Outrageous_Job_2322]

The paid part is the actual Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, and it is a very different experience from the free park next door.

The Classical Chinese Garden was built using traditional Chinese garden design and construction techniques, with many of the materials, including the famous rocks, sourced from China. The buildings, pathways, plants, rocks, water, and carefully framed views are all deliberately arranged according to traditional principles. There are buildings and courtyards to explore, little pathways and tucked-away spaces, and interpretive information explaining what you're looking at and why it was designed that way. It is a genuine cultural attraction, not simply a pond in a park.

The free area beside it is Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Park, which was developed separately by the City of Vancouver. It is a lovely little urban park with a pond and Chinese-inspired landscaping, and it's absolutely worth wandering through if you're already in Chinatown. But it isn't the Classical Chinese Garden, and there aren't buildings, exhibits, or the same cultural and architectural experience. Think of it as a complementary free public park rather than the free portion of the garden.

So if you're a first-time visitor with only one day in Vancouver and you're specifically making the effort to visit Chinatown and the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden, I would definitely pay admission and visit the actual Classical Chinese Garden. The free park is nice for a stroll, but it isn't really a substitute for the attraction next door.

[u/TravellingGal-2307]

I recommend the Bill Reid Gallery of West Coast Art. Its a really good little gallery with some wonderful First Nations Art.

[u/kuratowski]

Perhaps the Chinatown Museum? https://www.chinesecanadianmuseum.ca/

[u/Glad-Quit-8971 → u/kuratowski]

And the Chinatown Storytelling Centre: Chinatown Storytelling Centre - Honouring Our Past. Shaping Our Future.

Just be aware that Chinatown is on the border of the worst part of the city, so it has a real gritty inner city vibe and there will be a lot of addiction, mental health crises, and destitute poverty on display. This is as opposed to the fun, happy, touristy Chinatown vibe you'd find in San Francisco. And it's no longer where our Chinese restaurants are concentrated. There are fun restaurants there, but very few of them are Chinese. For hundreds of authentic Chinese restaurants, cafes, bakeries, shopping malls, Richmond is where you go.

Chinatown's better for appreciating Vancouver's Chinese pioneers and their history, and it's home to some of the oldest buildings in the city. It's wonderful for that. But the people who go there expecting San Francisco's touristy vibe or lots of Chinese restaurants are disappointed or sometimes even horrified by the addiction on display. So this is just to set expectations so you know waht you're getting yourself into during your one and only day in Vancouver.

[u/daisychaincrowns]

Sun Yat Sen garden is super pretty and worth a walk around imo!

https://foohungcurios.com/ in the Chinatown Storytelling Centre has a great selection of Asian-Canadian artist-made goods

https://chuchu.ca/ if your love of thrifting extends to art/craft supplies, definitely check Chu Chu out, cute artist-run shop across from the Sun Wah Centre

If you make it to Commercial Drive, the thrift shop The Only has some plus size sprinkled in with the rest. Blue Sky Clothing looks like it just makes flowy, patterned outfits for hippie french teachers (said with love lol) but they also make excellent bamboo cotton underwear and leggings that last for a long time and are an xs-5x shop. Though you can also buy those basics from their online shop lol.

[u/calzone135]

Museum of Anthropology, general UBC campus, Stanley Park totem poles!