Chinatown Storytelling Centre

Honouring Our Past. Shaping Our Future.

See how Vancouver’s Chinatown community helped shape our city’s past, present, and future.

Explore the vibrant history of Vancouver’s Chinatown through interactive exhibits filled with stories from the people who lived, worked and played there.

Artefacts, photos, and recordings from the 1880s to present day create an immersive self-guided storytelling experience for the whole family.

The Chinatown Storytelling Centre celebrates the power of stories in building community and bridging understanding. 

Storytelling honours the sacrifices made by previous generations. From disenfranchisement after completing the Canadian Pacific Railway to being denied to enlist to fight for Canada in World War II because of their ethnicity, the overcoming of these hardships paved the way for the lives we live today.

It was in Chinatown where the people who connected the country and fought in war could feel a sense of belonging in a hostile environment. Their stories of joy, friendship, and family are the foundation of the Chinatown community here today.

The Chinatown Storytelling Centre is a place that honours their courage to dream of a better future and a space to encourage intergenerational dialogue that will inspire resolve in current and future challenges.