Vancouver is the third largest city in Canada and one of the most beautiful on the American continent, a dynamic metropolis set in a beautiful location with a temperate climate throughout the year.
Close to the harbor area, the city’s skyscrapers have proliferated in recent years. The capital of the southwestern province of British Columbia has developed into an economic centre of renown.
The city’s oldest buildings were built less than 100 years ago because the former wooden houses of old Vancouver were destroyed by fire. Several buildings reflect the origin of their inhabitants and are similar to those in the United States and Europe.
Inspired by the Colosseum in Rome, an elegant structure of pink stone and glass, Canada Place, is located in the busy centre of the new harbor district and is also the city’s most recent landmark. Close by is Harbor Centre, a modern skyscraper complex with a shopping centre and a Skylift to the top floor. A glass elevator transports visitors to a 167-metre high observation platform where the view across the city, harbor and bay is overwhelming.
The exciting Skytrain is the city’s most popular means of transport, an ultra-modern train built on posts that zig zags its way through the city. Each of the city’s most important destinations are easily accessible and it has reduced the city’s traffic problems considerably.
For the World Exhibition of 1986, on the edge of Chinatown, gardeners and craftsmen from Suzhou, China established Canada’s first classical Chinese garden, the Doctor Sun Yat Sen Garden. Its ponds, bridges and small pavilions are similar to those in China, masterpieces of Far Eastern garden design.
Everything in Vancouver is youthful, attractive and dynamic, a place in which Canadian politeness unites with the Pacific way of life!