Vancouver Chinatown Festival

Kids learning how to do the dragon dance

Today a friend and I checked out the 21st annual Vancouver Chinatown Festival. I was surprised to find out it had been going on for so long, but by the crowds it looks like it's an annual favourite.

I arrived a bit before 11am and stalls were still being set up and young children getting ready to dance on the main stage which was at Keefer and Columbia streets. There were even kids trying out the mini lions to see how they worked while others hit the drums. 

Bannock or fried dough with jam

When things got rolling a few minutes later, there were lots of things for kids to do, including a petting zoo (all goats), face painting, crafts and giant Connect Four. Speaking of games there was also a giant mahjong set. We watched some people play and it was definitely not a game of speed, as two hands were needed to carry the tile to each player, but it was fun to see.

And what's a festival without food? There were lots of delicious options a block long on Keefer Street, not limited to Chinese food. There were Japanese snacks and buns, nuts and chocolate, creme brulee in pots, sushi tacos -- the nori deep-fried in the shape of a taco shell with various fillings, beaver tails (fried dough with sweet toppings to choose from), ice cream, pizza slices and hot dogs with Asian fillings. 

One stall featured bannock -- an indigenous snack made from fried dough that could be eaten with either butter, jam or peanut butter as the basic one, or more substantial like a sandwich. We tried the former and it was delicious freshly made.

Interestingly we tried some alcohol made from rice! The owner and maker had several products like rice sherry (quite smooth), rice wine like makgeolli, but thinner, and more impressive -- rice whisky! He had a smooth one which was indeed easy to drink, and the classic that had a bit of a burn at the end but not fiery hot. They are made in Delta.

A giant mahjong game in progress

We also saw our friend selling chilli sauce made with duck fat, and seemed to get a lot of interest from people, some of them purchasing jars. They only started two years ago and are slowly building up their brand and scaling up with a central kitchen. They are constantly looking for ways to improve themselves which is a great attitude to have.

Meanwhile on the main stage there was lots of dancing, from traditional Chinese (with really screechy music!), Hawaiian and Kpop style. The performances seemed to look better on the big screen than watching on stage for some reason.

Interestingly there was an electric car we could have a test ride in. It's called Lucid and one passerby wondered if it had a connection with Lucifer(!), but the guy tried to explain that the word "lucid" means "clear", but the passerby kept insisting it had devilish connotations...

Interested in riding an electric car called Lucid?

The look of the car is very sleek and inside it has a lot of screens and even a 360-degree view of the car! It's very smooth and can even self brake! I was shocked to hear the price for the base model which we rode in is C$121,000... 

Afterwards we took a break and had lunch at DD Mau, a Vietnamese restaurant on East Pender. It's long and narrow with a casual vibe and nice, friendly atmosphere. We ordered the tumeric dill fish with vermicelli that came with fermented shrimp paste.

The fish was slightly more salty than I'd like, though when eaten together with the vermicelli it balanced it out. 

We also tried the crab pockets which mixed the crab meat with pork in a deep-fried shell and seasoned with fish sauce. The pockets themselves were too tough and had to be softened with the fish sauce before eating. There was only a hint of crab meat in the filling that included thin strips of wood ear mushrooms and carrots.

Crab pockets with fish sauce at DD Mau

After we emerged from the restaurant over an hour later, we were well rested and cooled down from the heat. I was surprised to spend so much time there, but it was a nice way to connect with the neighbourhood and experience some new things!