Golden Village (Richmond, British Columbia)

A small sample of typical stores in the Golden Village.

Cambie is a commercial district of Richmond, British Columbia, Canada best known for its high concentration of Asian-themed shopping malls. It is the home to the second-largest Asian community in North America.^[1]

Richmond's population is up to 60 percent Asian-Canadian.^[2] Richmond is sometimes seen as the "new Chinatown" of Greater Vancouver and Golden Village is often blamed for luring many Chinese away from Vancouver's Chinatown. While Chinatown is often viewed as a lower income area, bordering Vancouver's notorious Downtown Eastside, Richmond is largely an affluent suburb.

Location

Golden Village's approximate borders are Sea Island Way to the north, Garden City Road to the east, Alderbridge Way to the south and about 300 metres west of No. 3 Road to the west. It is considered part of the city's main commercial district, extended from its original area around Richmond Centre.

Major commercial facilities

	Aberdeen Centre Aberdeen Centre is the largest of the many Asian-themed malls in the Golden Village. When the original Aberdeen was built, it was one of the first Asian malls in Richmond. As the Asian population grew, it became too small and was rebuilt around 2002. It primarily serves Chinese-Canadians from Hong Kong but has since diversified to include Mainland Chinese and, with the opening of the discount store Daiso, Japanese customers as well.
	President Plaza President Plaza is a mall primarily built to serve the Taiwanese population. It is most notable for its large hotel complex, owned and operated by Radisson Hotels. It is home to T & T Supermarket , which closed in 2015, which is based in the city, and a Buddhist temple operated by Taiwan's Fo Guang Shan.
	Yaohan Centre Yaohan Centre was originally designed to be a Japanese-themed mall but has since diversified to a Pan-Asian style that includes the Chinese, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Thai, and Korean populations, among others. It is home to Osaka Supermarket, the largest Japanese supermarket in the area.
	Parker Place Parker Place is a Hong Kong-style mall that is smaller than its other indoor mall counterparts. It is notable for its high concentration of clothing stores featuring Asian-style fashion. It also holds the title for being the second Asian mall to be built in Richmond, after the original Aberdeen Centre. With Aberdeen's recent rebuilding, it is now the oldest of all the Asian malls in the Golden Village.
	Continental Centre Located at the corner of Cambie Road and Sexsmith Road, Continental Centre is at the centre of Richmond’s rapidly growing Asian commercial district. It provides a variety of retail in bakery, beauty salon, Chinese BBQ, supermarket, optical shop, cosmetics, telecommunication, seafood, pharmacy, Chinese medicine, restaurant, café, jewelries, health products, and teas. Also available are professional services such as accountants, lawyers, medical practitioners, dentists, Chinese Traditional Medicine clinics, insurance brokers, tutoring and academy centres, real estate brokers, bank, photographer, travel agents, and cultural societies. Official website: www.continentalshoppingcentre.com
	Alexandra Road Unofficially known as "Food Street,[3]" Alexandra Road is home to one of the highest concentration of restaurants in Richmond. The restaurants there feature a various range of Asian cuisines. The types of Asian restaurants also vary—in addition to traditional restaurants, there are many hot pot and buffet restaurants as well, which is a change compared to the rest of the Golden Village.[4]
	Garden City Road Because No. 3 Road is getting increasingly dense, some Asian malls have located themselves closer to Garden City Road, the closest major road to the east. Most of the Asian malls on Garden City are small and located outdoors, a change from the traditional Asian malls on No. 3 Road, and resemble multi-level or very large strip malls. Some notable malls include Continental Square, Empire Centre, Central Plaza, Union Square, Cosmo Plaza and Pacific Plaza.

Transportation

Golden Village is served by public transit, funded by TransLink. Since 2009, the area is connected to Vancouver and to central Richmond by the SkyTrain Canada Line, which has a station within Golden Village called Aberdeen.

There are also bus connections in Golden Village to Richmond Centre, New Westminster, British Columbia, Steveston, the University of British Columbia and Burnaby, British Columbia. (For more information, see List of bus routes in Greater Vancouver.)

Golden Village is directly connected to Richmond's Sea Island, home to Vancouver International Airport, via the Moray Bridge and the Sea Island Bridge.

See also

• Chinese Canadians in British Columbia

References

1. Richmond's Golden Village
2. globeandmail.com: Dim sum meets cellphone nirvana
4. Review - Good Living January 28, 1998

External links

• Tourism Richmond's Golden Village brochure (PDF file)
• Tourism BC: Richmond (includes the Golden Village)

News sources

• The Asian Pacific Post: "Richmond's Golden Village"
• The Globe and Mail: "Dim sum meets cellphone nirvana"
• The Vancouver Courier: "Golden Village has plenty to crow about"
• The Vancouver Courier: "The rise of Richmond"
• NWsource (Seattle, Washington): "Thriving Asian suburb offers an exotic escape"
• Seattle Post-Intelligencer: "On Food - Seeking the best Chinese food? Look to Richmond B.C."