Chinese immigrants have flocked to Canada's west
coast and transformed Vancouver into Canada's very own Asian
metropolis. The days of concern over the city being turned into
'Hongcouver' have gone. What does the future hold for Canada's Asian
population?
Shoppers stroll casually past a Lamborghini store in
Richmond's Aberdeen Centre - a major Asian mall in this once sleepy
Vancouver suburb known for its farmland and fishing village.
Outside the shopping centre, people are queuing at the many
Chinese restaurants. In the local supermarkets, butchers are picking
live seafood out of fish tanks, chopping off the heads, then gutting and
packaging them up under the watchful eye of customers, almost
exclusively Chinese-Canadian.
Richmond is North America's most Asian city - 50% of
residents here identify themselves as Chinese. But it's not just here
that the Chinese community in British Columbia (BC) - some 407,000
strong - has left its mark. All across Vancouver, Chinese-Canadians have
helped shape the local landscape.
