Chinatown's Christmas market goes virtual
Gift baskets will help stores hit hard by drop in business during pandemic
In October, as B.C.'s COVID-19 numbers were rising, Xiao Lin, an 85-year-old tea farmer in China, came out of retirement to harvest and roast a special tea for the daughter of an old friend, the late Vancouver tea purveyor Kwok Sun Cheung.
“It's a very special tea, the one my father used to serve every day in our home,” said Olivia Chan, who took over the business in 2002 shortly before her father's death.
“The farmer knew we were having a hard time here in Vancouver, and said, `Hey, I want to help you. I'm going to do one more batch for you.'”
The Tiehuanyin “Iron Buddha” tea is available at Treasure Green, Chan's East Georgia Street store.
Chan's teas are now being featured in an online market of curated holiday gift baskets created by the Vancouver Chinatown Foundation.
Foundation chair Carol Lee said the online marketplace was created to support small businesses from the neighbourhood, like Treasure Green, that have been hit hard by the pandemic.
“In Chinatown, we were very negatively affected during COVID. There was a loss of foot traffic, a decline in tourism, and an inability for some businesses to pivot to online sales,” Lee said.
“We thought we could create an online platform to help.”
Foundation members visited local businesses, curated items to create gift baskets available through an online Gifts From Chinatown portal. “One basket will support up to six businesses,” Lee said.
They also include a card explaining the meaning of “gift” in the Chinese culture — it can be “gift” or “etiquette,” “illuminating the importance of paying respect in everything that we do.”
Lee said the hidden gift of a difficult pandemic year has been learning more about people in the neighbourhood, and about community. “It showed us that you can work together to help others,” Lee said.
Although the Gifts from Chinatown project was originally conceived for the holidays, it has been such a success that the foundation plans to grow it and continue after Christmas as a way to boost the online presence of local merchants.
“We are in the process of putting together an economic recovery program to help the merchants access a broader audience using our online platform,” Lee said.
Chan is grateful for the support. “Our tea can help people relax, regroup and concentrate, and help people to cope at this time of year, which has been so difficult.”
Funds raised go directly to participating merchants.