RESPONSES TO LAST WEEK'S QUESTION:

Q Do you have fond memories or family traditions that involve Chinatown?

My husband and I enjoyed Chinese food. When our twin boys were toddlers, we took them to the Bamboo Terrace, which they loved. Tradition was started. Every birthday we gave them a choice: a party or Chinese, and Chinatown won. Finally, nine years old, we persuaded them to have a party. They had lots of friends, food and great presents. That night at bedtime, we asked if they had enjoyed their party. Yes, they said, but next year can we go to the Bamboo Terrace? After many years, the restaurant is long gone, but our family still loves Chinese food.

Dorothy Mckillican

When I was a child during the '70s and '80s, Chinatown was the only place to purchase Chinese groceries. After a “torturous” morning of Chinese school at Strathcona Elementary, my parents would reward my brother and I with a lunch of crispy chow mein and red bean ice before our weekly shop. We would always end up at Dollar Meats, where the lovely and kind butcher would often have a box from Maxim's Bakery and offer me a dan tai: a deliciously flaky and creamy egg tart. A visit to Chinatown always fills me with a bittersweet nostalgia.

Cindy Lou

The Orange Door in an alley behind East Pender in Chinatown was originally set up as an eatery for members of a gaming joint upstairs. It had only one cook and a nine-year-old waiter who took orders by numbers on a menu in Chinese characters posted on the wall. The orders would be hung on a line with clothespins in sequence. As the UBC students discovered the low prices and delicious cooking in this place, they soon replaced all the Chinese customers from upstairs. Once former PM Pierre Trudeau went there with friends, English menus and higher prices appeared.