Dr. Sun Yat Sen Garden - an Urban Oasis Amid the Concrete Junle in Vancouver

Feb. 27, 2016

Today was the last day of our stay in Vancouver. We arranged to meet with J. and his girl friend this morning and have brunch with them. J.  just moved to Vancouver to study at UBC. Since our son was here to visit us, we always try to make use of opportunities like this to bring the young people in the family together.

J. and his girl friend 

Not long after we finished packing and checking out of the hotel, J. and his girl friend, M. came to meet us at the hotel lobby. 

From there we walked to the downtown Chinatown.

Dim Sum Brunch at a Chinese restaurant in Vancouver Chinatown 

Like most big cities in North America, there are always the old original Chinatown where Chinese people first settled in that city.

 Then there is another new Chinatown where recent and more affluent immigrants buy their new homes and start settling in the suburban area.

The cousins got together in Vancouver 

In the downtown old Chinatown, we did not see a lot of nice dim sum restaurants as a lot of the recent immigrants have settled in Richmond. 

We headed out to the Chinese Restaurant recommended by one of the residents and enjoyed a dim sum brunch there. The food was pretty good! But the price of the dim sum dishes was at least 30% more expensive than they were in Toronto!

The Dr. Sun Yat Sen Park

We passed by the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Chinese Garden on our way to the restaurant stopping by for some pictures.

An urban oasis amid the concrete jungle of highrises  

I remembered this garden vividly as soon as we entered it. We were here thirty years ago when  the Expo’86 was in Vancouver. 

Not much seemed to have changed in the park since we visited it years ago

I was a young mother with two boys, aged five and nine respectively. Though curious about everything and desiring to explore new things, our children were well behaved. 

My husband was very excited about this garden and he went around the place and taking pictures on his own. 

I was left with our two young children and thank goodness for they didn’t run off on their own. Having to look after these on my own, I was glad that we didn’t lose them!  

Now, our children have grown! However, this urban garden did not change much.

 

It still looked the same without much improvement done to it by the city. It is a nice oasis in the middle of the downtown concrete jungle of over built and over priced high-rises and condominiums. 

I really hope that the city would pay more attention to it and improve the facility a little more. It is a nice urban park for the residents and visitors to enjoy amid the skyrocketing real estate properties!    

Sculpture in the Vancouver Airport

Yes, Vancouver is a beautiful city, but probably one of the most expensive cities to live in for Canadians.  The house princes here are outrageous!!! 

I always wonder how Vancouverites cope with their high cost of living in their city. The housing price alone is  a prohibitive factor for would be dwellers to Vancouver.

Totem Pole in the Vancouver Airport

However, one thing we did appreciate Vancouver was the efficient and low cost of ground transportation by Sky Train from a station called City Centre Station (close to our downtown hotel) to the airport for merely $ 4.75 per person.

The train ride was only twenty minutes and because we rode the train on a Saturday when the fare was discounted, it only cost $4.95 for both of us to the airport!

We have traveled in many parts of the world and this was the cheapest fare we paid for a ride from our hotel to the airport!

  Great job, Vancouver for making airport transportation to downtown so affordable and efficient!

We were glad we visited the city and got to experience the mild weather and spectacular scenery of Vancouver!

R.T.
Vancouver
British Columbia