To the outsider, Chinatown seems like the exact opposite of traditional Anglo Toronto—it unapologetically confronts the passerby with all manner of sights, sounds and smells, while the hustle and bustle continues almost round the clock.
Chinatown is at its most vibrant after dusk, when the sidewalks swarm with shoppers in search of anything from cut-rate produce, still-wriggling sea creatures, touristy trinkets, electronics and jewelry to medicinal herbs, dried seahorses and animal tongues.
An air of controlled chaos permeates the neighbourhood. Garbage piles high outside the area’s many restaurants, some of which stay open until 5 a.m. to profit from the wave of bleary-eyed youths emerging from the bars and clubs within Chinatown’s orbit. Atop the modern glass and steel tower of the Dragon City mall, a huge video screen flashes constant advertisements and news broadcasts in Chinese.
Downtown Chinatown, the largest and most commercial of six Chinatowns in the Greater Toronto Area, is centred at the crossroads of Dundas and Spadina. With Cantonese as the main spoken language, the area has a distinct Hong Kong feel, but there are growing Mandarin-speaking Chinese and Vietnamese populations as well as Portuguese, Indonesian and West Indian influences, to name but a few.
The neighbourhood has evolved from a pocket of hand laundries at the turn of the century to a thriving commercial and cultural focal point. Lately, however, some say Chinatown is losing its edge, as more and more Chinese-Canadian professionals and entrepreneurs settle in the quieter suburbs.
Amid its more eccentric tourist-oriented wares, however, Chinatown still seems to serve as an important hub for Asian immigrants, judging by the number of law and immigration offices, foreign exchanges, and brokers offering services in a variety of languages.
Downtown Chinatown, a major economic artery in one of the world’s most multicultural cities, serves as a reminder that Toronto is a true metropolis. In Chinatown, opportunity, in every way, shape and form, belongs to everyone.
Photograph by Simon Turnbull
