Canada issues Chinatown gates stamps to celebrate Asian heritage

Illustrator Normand Cousineau displays the Chinatown Gates stamps in Ottawa, Canada, May 1, 2013. Canada Post launched a special series of stamps featuring Chinatown gates located in eight cities across the country on Wednesday to highlight the longstanding heritages of Chinese-Canadians. [Photo/Xinhua]

"When we first came, there were not a lot of Chinese people around, and our kids were bullied in school, but now you see Chinese people being honored for their beautiful designs, so we bought it to remember this moment."

"The aesthetics is just pretty visually to look at, and symbolically, a new start, a new gateway, a new beginning," Susana Albuquerque, another stamp collector said.

Canada's very first Chinatown was established in Victoria, B.C. back in 1858 when a large influx of Chinese laborers immigrated into the country to build the Canadian Pacific Railway.

The Victoria Chinatown grew steadily over the years, becoming a thriving hub for Chinese-Canadians. It reached its peak in 1911, when it occupied an area of about six city blocks in the north end of downtown Victoria.

But nowadays, Canada's Chinatowns are attracting fewer and fewer new immigrants to visit, and they're also losing its appeal to business owners, according to Lai, a Hong Kong immigrant who is also known as the Father of Chinatowns in Canada.

Using Toronto as a reference, he noted that the best Chinese restaurants, and even associations of the Chinese community, are all missing from the city's Chinatown.

"The current situation of Chinatown is OK, but the preservation of Chinatown is a big problem," Lai said, concerned about whether the Chinatowns can exist in 30 or 40 years.

"The gates are landmarks of Chinatown and it's important to preserve them. The launch of the series is a good way to preserve the gates," he added.

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