A Trip to Asia...Well, Really Richmond, BC

The story of Chinese immigration to the western coast of Canada is such a tangled, complex tale... even James Michener might have balked at tackling it. Suffice it to say that a high point in the story occurred in 1997 when the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong to mainland China precipitated the departure of thousands of Hong Kong residents. A good number of them ended up in British Columbia and  and today, Vancouver is over 30% Chinese. 

That figure is much higher in Vancouver's suburb of Richmond, so, eager for a cross-cultural field trip, I headed there this evening for a look-see and dinner. What I found was an area that is more like modern Asia than any I've encountered in North America (and that includes the Flushing, Queens area in my hometown of New York City). Here are some pictures from my little adventure:

Richmond is a long expanse of malls and strip malls. My first stop was a large grocery store in a medium-sized mall with the most impressive seafood section I've ever seen in a supermarket.

Tank after tank was filled with live seafood. In this tank, the king crabs were bigger than my head. Each must have cost at least $50, if the sign giving the price per weight is correct

A tank of shellfish (above) was the size of two coffins laid end to end.

Black chickens were the delicacy in the nearby meat area (no live birds or cattle...at least that I saw).