Community connects Vancouver's Chinatown to seniors' fashion book
When community organizers Doris and June Chow reflect on how they connected Vancouver's Chinatown to Chinatown Pretty — the popular blog project and now hardcover book celebrating the street fashions of elders in Chinatowns across six North American cities — they point to a photo taken of Doris with Jack Poon, a retired senior.
It didn't actually make it into the final selection of about 20 photos taken in Vancouver for the recently released book Chinatown Pretty: Fashion and Wisdom from Chinatown's Most Stylish Seniors, by San Francisco-based photographer Andria Lo and writer Valerie Luu.
But for the Chows, who are sisters, it captured a moment on a summer's day on Keefer Street, with the Dr. Sun Yat-sen Chinese garden in the background, of Doris and Jack chatting, laughing and making peace signs with their hands, that says so much about different generations meeting in Chinatown.
They know Poon from when he attended the Chinatown Mahjong social events they organized with their Youth Collaborative for Chinatown group, which has been actively running programs and classes for five years.
“He lives nearby and in the neighbourhood,” Doris said. “Hilariously, every so often, he used to come to the socials and look for (us) and bring us fried chicken because he knew we really like to eat fried chicken. He didn't play mahjong, but he encouraged us in what we were doing.”
“It's being in that place and being part of that sense of community,” June said.
Chinatown Pretty set out to highlight the unique fashions of Chinatown seniors, but it wasn't just about the clashing floral, plaid and polka-dot patterns, layers of sweaters and jackets, plus baseball hats with random brands from different places, some collected over decades.
It was also about tying that overall look to the seniors' past experiences, such as going through times of famine, immigration or family separation, and also to their daily lives now, such as seeing friends, exercising and running errands.
“There is this resourcefulness, this resiliency of the seniors, and all these skills that are really valuable during COVID now,” June said.
“There's also a carefreeness,” Doris said. “'I don't care if there's 20 different floral prints, it's about the practicality.”
The Chows first followed the Chinatown Pretty blog because the photos and tributes reminded them of their grandmother, who lived, on her own, in Vancouver's Chinatown “for the last, almost 20 years of her life.”
“It was kind of like, ` Oh you know, if grandma were alive, she would be in this book. And these are her friends,'” Doris said.
When the authors came to Vancouver after touring through the Chinatowns of San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, New York and Chicago, the Chows organized an event to meet and photograph seniors.
The release of the book this fall comes as a lot has been happening in Vancouver Chinatown since the photos for Chinatown Pretty and of Doris and Jack were taken two years ago.
Various groups and associations in Chinatown say small businesses there may have been hit even harder than elsewhere in the city.
The Vancouver Chinatown Legacy Stewardship Group says its preliminary data from city staff shows vacancy rates in Chinatown for August jumped 23.7 per cent compared to before the pandemic and that the rate now sits higher, at 17 per cent, compared to the city wide average of 10 per cent.
It's asking provincial election candidates to consider tax credits to reduce the risk of investing in the small businesses of heritage communities like Chinatown in the same way they are available for supporting clean technology or film production industries. It's also asking Vancouver city hall to consider reducing Chinatown parking rates for six months and increasing the cleaning of sidewalks there from twice a week to daily.
In a letter, the group points out how the recent closure and listing for sale of the Goldstone Bakery and Restaurant due to economic impact of COVID-19 and the owner's son not wanting to take over has drawn an outpouring of emotion with calls and ideas for how to possibly keep alive the beloved small business and community space.
Poignantly, one of the Vancouver photos in Chinatown Pretty shows then 93-year-old Sui Ngan Sung heading into Goldstone Bakery to meet her family for their usual Sunday lunch. She's a Chinatown Pretty for sure, decked out in a bright floral top, pale floral pants, and a crossbody bag in a third floral pattern, gripping a cane in one hand and her toddler grandson in the other.
It was kind of like, `Oh you know, if grandma were alive, she would be in this book. And these are her friends.'