A while back, I attended the Wongs’ Benevolent Association heritage tour and discussion in Vancouver’s Chinatown, presented in collaboration with Heritage Vancouver Society.
We started off with a tour of the Wongs’ Benevolent Society building and the Hon Hsing Building on Pender Street, followed by a short walk around the surrounding part of Chinatown. These are places connected to family, migration, discrimination, community support, cultural identity, and the work of keeping traditions going.
What I appreciated most was how the tour expanded the idea of heritage. It was not only about architecture or preservation. It was also about the buildings were used, who gathers there, what stories are carried inside, and how each generation decides what to continue.
Some of the rooms were set up to show how residents may have lived in the past, which I found especially interesting.
The conversations also touched on how heritage is often viewed through city planning as a physical building first. But a community, it is much broader than that. Heritage is social, cultural, and deeply personal. It lives in the building, but also in the people who continue to care for it.
I left with the idea that heritage is something active, not just something preserved from the past. The tour was thoughtful and meaningful, especially for anyone interested in Chinatown, family associations, and the future of cultural heritage in Vancouver.
The event was presented by the Wongs’ Benevolent Association and Heritage Vancouver Society, with support from the Department of Canadian Heritage. Ticket proceeds supported building repairs for the Wongs’ Benevolent Association.
