First of all, thank you all the Canadian poddies for your welcome messages. Despite a 15-hour jetlag, I am enjoying Vancouver tremendously.
So far, I’ve been enchanted by the pristine blue sky and cotton candy like clouds. It’s like what you see in the opening credits of the Simpsons. If you ever see someone sky watching with morbid fascination, that’s probably me.
I am living with a friend in the suburbs. We\ve been driving around to the city and along the way, there’s a lot of modest looking shops and restaurants, which look quite run down. But once you step in, great adventure begings. You find authentic food from different parts of the world and unique local produce. A stark contrast with the excessively promising exterior of shops in China, the substance of which often leaves you in disappointment.
And lastly, I\ve finally had a taste of suburban horror. Gotta run now.Till next time, take care!
9 Responses to “Canada 2: quiet not dull”
On FriendFeed, this post was liked by 0 people and commented on 0 times hideLeave a reply
About this blog
Hi, I am Jenny Zhu from ChinesePod.com. I bring you a slice of the Chinese language and culture in the daily podcast. But there is so much more than what a podcast has time for, so jennyzhu.com is a space of observation and reflection on the big, small and everything in between about China.
Melissa 梅莉
June 15th, 2008 at 1:31 am
Hey Jenny, I’m glad you are having a good time. If you can take the ferry out to Vancouver Island. Sometimes you can spot some whales!
jp 吉平
June 15th, 2008 at 8:09 am
Jenny! Welcome to the West Coast! Eat salmon!
art
June 15th, 2008 at 8:15 am
good to hear that you’re enjoying amber’s 老家。:)
i spent a few hours in vancouver in the early 90s and don’t remember much of what i saw there. perhaps i need to go there again in the near future.
May C
June 15th, 2008 at 9:24 am
Well, Vancouver. What can I say about it since I’ve spent a huge part of my life there (obviously I’m not living there anymore).
Richmond is likely the closest to Hong Kong or China as you can get by without knowing a word of English. It will appeal to the young and newer Chinese immigrants, offering everything they love back home. Actually, go check out Richmond Night Market if you get the chance. Very nice food if not interesting Asian products. Also check out the Buddhist temple on Steveston Hwy as it is very nice and tranquil. Steveston is also nice.
For Vancouver, check out Granville Island, walk along the old Expo lands near Chinatown for a nice view, Stanley Park. Chinatown will appeal to the older people as it’s more of a cultural experience with all its history but they offer great prices.
I’m sure you will enjoy your visit in Vancouver or the suburbs. Even in the ‘burbs, you’ll find lots of Chinese around and Chinese food.
I’m missing the food most of all.
sushan
June 15th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
I will be there later this summer when the blueberries and blackberries are at their peak. Am also really looking forward to the Japanese and Indian-Chinese food there.
The Museum of Anthropology at UBC is small but great and the building is gorgeous. (Anthropological museums are my favourite kind.) They just had several pieces by a famous native artist stolen, but most of the art has been recovered.
BC is a great place to hit the trails too. Lynn Canyon has a suspension bridge that is free and not crowded with people like Capilano.
ZhongTang
June 16th, 2008 at 9:46 am
Jenny, welcome to Canada !
If you have time, I strongly suggest you come visit the province of Quebec, especially this year since we celebrate the 400th anniversary of Quebec city, Canada’s oldest city. Be careful when writing thoughts about Canada, since there are a lot of differences between the culture and mentality of people living in BC, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec or the Maritimes.
Too bad you did not visit in winter. You would have loved Whistler !
May C
June 18th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
@ZhongTang. I agree that there’s a lot of diversity in the various provinces and we all have our own distinctive personalities.
Quebec City is a very beautiful city. I was there for the Winter Carnival and again in the summer and what a difference! I love the summer more since it’s warmer and love the open air cafes that give the very European and laid back feeling. I just missed the 400th celebration when I visited last year but it still felt like they were already celebrating. Montreal is also a bit different too but feels more metroplitan.
I like Alberta too as I’ve visited both Edmonton and Calgary and lived in Alberta for a few years.
I don’t know. I think I would prefer Alberta (no taxes!) plus the Alberta beef. Man, I miss that a lot.
Jenny Zhu
June 18th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Being a Chinese, we sometimes forget that Canada is even bigger in size. Not that size is everything, but the geographic and cultural diversity within each province should indeed be quite varied.
Hope Canada promotes its tourism more aggressively. It’s such a great place to visit.
art
June 21st, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Jenny,
Now that you’ve seen a little bit of Canada, how will you answer this question you asked of Amber on Qingwen last year: “所有的加拿大人都像你这么漂亮?”
I would like to know the answer.