Where to Go in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada

I had never heard of Richmond, British Columbia, until about six months ago, when I got an email touting its concentration of excellent Asian restaurants and encouraging me to check it out over the Lunar New Year weekend. I’ll be honest: when I first read the subject line I assumed it was about Richmond, Virginia. I don’t know if my ignorance can be forgiven, but I’ve now been to the Richmond in Canada, and I can say I enjoyed it far more than any of the times I’ve driven through the capital of Virginia. (Yes, driving through that Richmond is the extent of my time there. I’m sure it’s cool.)

If, like me, you’re totally unaware, Richmond is a thriving part of the Vancouver metropolitan area that is often called the most Asian city in North America. Just about 75% of its population has Asian ancestry, with less than a third claiming English as their primary language. It’s heavily Chinese in culture, with small but notable Filipino and Japanese populations, alongside the European descendants whose forebears first settled in the area in the 19th century. This all makes Richmond a fascinating melting pot of east and west, and one of the most distinctive cities I’ve ever been to. 

If you ever find yourself in Vancouver, it’s more than worth hopping on the Skytrain to spend a day exploring Richmond. You should even consider staying in Richmond and taking the train in to Vancouver when needed; it’s a hidden gem with an engrossing history and a bounty of excellent restaurants. If you do visit Richmond, here’s what you need to do while you’re there.

What to Do in Richmond

Aberdeen Centre offers a shopping experience you won’t find in most North American cities. The multi-story mall is full of stores serving the city’s Asian population, with an H-Mart, the Japanese department store Oomomo, a food court stocked with a myriad of Asian options without a Sbarro or American fast food joint in site, a small arcade of Japanese arcade cabinets for whenever you need to get your fighting game or shmup fix, and even a store full of gacha machines called Gacha Gacha Hobbies & Toys. (I got a couple of tiny little Donald Ducks there, because of course I did.) I wouldn’t normally recommend people go to a shopping mall on vacation, but Aberdeen Centre is packed full of awesome, fascinating stuff you just won’t find at the vast majority of malls in North America, and is a one-stop shop for immersing oneself in the city’s commercial culture.

On Richmond’s coast you’ll find Steveston, a small, adorable village that celebrates the city’s 19th and 20th century legacy of fishing. In addition to a number of cute shops and restaurants, Steveston is also home to a few historical sites that are must-visits if you’re interested in the heritage of this region, tracking how fishing and boat-making were the foundation of its economy, and also how racism and discrimination towards its native and immigrant populations defined Richmond’s early history.

One of those sites in Steveston, the Gulf of Georgia Cannery, packed millions of cans of sockeye salmon between 1894 and 1930; after a period of obsolescence, it was revived during World War II to can herring, which it did until the end of the ‘70s. Today it’s a museum and National Historical Site full of exhibits and displays about the significance canning played in the growth and development of western Canada. Starting off before the cannery was built, it walks guests through the ups and downs of the fishing and canning trade, with recreations of the canning lines and a variety of interactive exhibits. Chinese immigrants filled the grisliest and hardest jobs, and of course were the first impacted by automation when a machine with a racist name displaced them from their dangerous, low-paying, exploitative jobs as early as the first decade of the 20th century. (History can be pretty depressing, if you didn’t know.) The Gulf of Georgia Cannery brings British Columbia’s history to life in stark fashion, acknowledging the vitality of this industry to the region without candy-coating its worst and most exploitative aspects. You’ll also get a first-hand view of a sliming table, which is a grotesquely charming pair of words. 

Elsewhere in Steveston you can visit Britannia Shipyards, a series of 13 buildings that show the living and working conditions of employees of the shipyards and the Britannia Cannery. Some of these buildings hail all the way back to 1885, with Chinese, Japanese, and First Nations workers living in small, cramped company homes. Britannia reveals the weird hierarchy of immigrant mistreatment; Japanese immigrants seemed to have better treatment than their Chinese coworkers, with less men assigned to a single house, and the potential to move into your own private home with your family, as seen in the early 20th century house of a Japanese shipbuilder. The main shipyard building continued to repair and build ships until 1980, and today it looks as it would have when it closed—a large, open, aging structure with a mix of early and late 20th century technology. Seeing the conditions in which the shipyards’ employees lived and worked once again shows us how hardscrabble life could be for immigrants and manual laborers.

Where to Drink in Richmond

Most of my drinking this trip occurred during an absurdly indulgent series of Lunar New Year feasts that I wrote about earlier this month, or at the Shameful Tiki Room in Vancouver proper. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Cask at Versante, the hotel I stayed at during my time in town. (More on Versante in a bit.) This dark, classy watering hole has a separate entrance from the hotel; its friendly, knowledgeable bartenders crafted me a variety of delicious cocktails during my (too) long night there, including a handful of rum and diets with lime that made me feel like I was once again drunk alone at home. (It’s my duty as a writer, and such.) Anybody who enjoys a fine glass of whiskey—or even just a memorable luxurious experience—should book an appointment at the Cask Whiskey Vault, a private, reservation-only dining room walled with hundreds of bottles of whiskey of all types and prices. Different whiskey flights focus on whiskeys and scotches from either the islands or mainland of Scotland, with a third dedicated to Japan’s popular whiskey scene. The flights are more for beginners—there are no deep cuts or rarities here—but they’re still well-curated selections that display some of the differences available in whiskey, and depending on the time of night they’re matched with a tasting menu or a variety of late night snacks. I won’t lie and call it one of the best whiskey experiences I’ve had in my life—Kentucky’s a lot closer to my house than British Columbia—but it still offers up a warm and invigorating night of passionate drinking, something I’ll pretty much never be able to refuse.

Where to Eat in Richmond

I wrote a whole article about this; go read it! In short, Richmond is a dream for lovers of dumplings, seafood, authentic Chinese cuisine, Hong Kong barbecue, Thai food, and all manner of Asian delicacies. As I wrote, HK BBQ Master is a humble yet exquisite purveyor of nicely spiced pork, chicken and duck, while Dinesty Dumpling House hits a bullseye with its large assortment of dumplings and rolls. Bamboo Grove and The Fish Man overwhelmed me with Lunar New Year feasts, with Grove, the oldest Chinese restaurant in town, striving for a classic (and classy) vibe, and The Fish Man going for something younger and hipper with its bright lights and large, open dining room. And Baan Lao doesn’t serve food so much as edible art; it would feel like a crime to eat its gorgeously prepared and presented Thai dishes if they weren’t so damn delicious.

Where to Stay in Richmond

The Versante Hotel has a lot in its favor, from common conveniences like its proximity to the airport and the Vancouver area’s subway system, to the kind of luxuries you expect from an upscale boutique hotel. It’s home to a good restaurant called Bruno, which has its own bar area, and it’s also where you’ll find Cask, which I mentioned above. Versante’s attentive staff is one of the most dedicated and insistently helpful I’ve ever encountered at a hotel, always asking if I needed anything whenever I walked through the lobby, and responding promptly to front desk calls from my room. And speaking of the room, it’s a shame I didn’t get to spend more time in it; the large corner suite had both a spacious living room from which I watched part of this year’s Super Bowl, as well as an almost-as-big bedroom with its own flat-screen TV. The massive bathroom included both a shower and a large standalone bathtub, and although I hate to put this image into your minds, I did make use of that tub every night I was in Richmond. Soaking in a constantly replenished supply of bath salts was the perfect way to end each day at Versante. It’s an ideal place to stay in Richmond, and is close and convenient enough to make a fine outpost for a more Vancouver-intensive trip, as well.

Senior editor Garrett Martin writes about videogames, comedy, travel, theme parks, wrestling, and anything else that gets in his way. He’s also on Twitter @grmartin.