Vancouver's Expanding Asian Community By Gary Lee Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, April 26, 1998; Page E01

Thanks partly to a wave of immigration, Asian culture is thriving in Vancouver. (By Gary Lee)

Drawn into the soul of Asian Vancouver, I was compelled to explore further.

And so the next day found me savoring sauteed scallops in a sauce of cherry blossoms at Tojo's, a Japanese restaurant where dining is grander and more enticing than a geisha's dance. I devoted the following afternoon to foraging through shops along the main arteries of downtown Chinatown and returned with a bag of delicacies: tea made from the leaves of chrysanthemums, a dessert concocted from the eggs of snow frogs, and candy made from seaweed. On Sunday I took a 30-minute taxi ride to the bustling new Chinatown in the suburb of Richmond, where I knelt among immigrants from Hong Kong in a Buddhist temple.

In between came lunch with an East Indian truck driver in the Punjab Market district, a sally through a Japanese garden laden with cherry blossoms on the grounds of the University of British Columbia, and a lesson in the appreciation of dim sum.

Although better known for its stunning setting -- between the regal blue Pacific and the snow-topped Grouse Mountain -- Vancouver easily lives up to its reputation s a gateway to Asia. Immigrants from China, India, Korea and other Asian countries and their offspring make up more than 26 percent of the 1.8 million residents of the region, giving it the densest concentration of Asians in North America. Last year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, which brought leaders from North America and more than a dozen Asian countries to Vancouver to discuss the economic future of the Pacific Rim, buttressed the city's position as the crossroads between North America and Asia.

Even for the casual traveler, a visit to this far-off corner of the Pacific Northwest provides a rare opportunity for immersion in the culture of the rice bowl without leaving the shores of North America. For serious China aficionados, it is possible to dine on first-rate dim sum in different eateries every night for a week, spend entire afternoons in Asian shopping malls or tea salons, and end the night at the movies or a karaoke bar, without hearing anything but Cantonese or Mandarin.

As a student of multiculturalism, I was curious about how a part of the world with deep Anglo roots and puritanical mores had absorbed such a large and visible Asian subculture.

Vancouver was first settled by the English in the mid-1800s, and residents with English roots still make up the majority of the population. In recent years, however, it has attracted a mix of residents from various backgrounds, including Anglos, Italians, Greeks and Germans. The thread that seems to bind the disparate population is a love for the great outdoors and a casual, down-home spirit. Many are urban cowboy types who balance high-powered jobs with a strong love of nature.

Vancouverites descended from Asia, like their counterparts in San Francisco and other North American cities, and are largely concentrated in enclaves: old Chinatown is an eight-square-block district of restaurants, shops and apartments that dates to the end of the last century; the new Chinatown, a section of the suburb of Richmond, is dominated by Chinese shops and patronized by recent immigrants from Hong Kong; the Punjab Market area, a community of Indian restaurants and stores, is about a mile from the downtown area; and West Vancouver, a small city of elegant homes, many of which are owned by wealthy Asian immigrants from Hong Kong.

But Asians have left a mark on the look of the city far beyond those communities. In the past decade, the city's skyline has sprouted glossy new skyscrapers, many of which have been built with heavy Asian investments, according to Ron Richardson, spokesman for the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, a think tank.

Smaller signs of the impact Asians have had beyond the Asian neighborhoods crop up everywhere. This is a place where ATMs ask if customers prefer conducting business in Chinese, where everyone everywhere seems proficient in the use of chopsticks, and locals from every quarter celebrate the Chinese New Year with the same kind of gusto with which Bostonians greet St. Patrick's Day.

By far the strongest testament to the successful merging of the cultures of Asia and British Columbia came in conversations I had with Asian immigrants and their offspring. I approached Chinese-born business executives, Indian taxi drivers and Korean restaurateurs, among others, and the majority sang praises of their experiences in British Columbia.

Over a lunch of dim sum, for example, Melina Hong, a public relations professional who moved to Vancouver from Hong Kong four years ago, explained that British Columbia had attracted her like a magnet.

"When I walk into a room in a new place, I instantly sense whether I am accepted as an Asian woman or whether the people there have some problems with my culture," she said. "In Vancouver I have always been greeted with the same warm welcome and dignity as the next person."

Some disagreed. "For the most part, relations between Asians and Anglos in Vancouver is comfortable," said Gil, a taxi driver who immigrated to the city from the Punjab section of India two decades ago. But "I got hit with so many questions from people coming out of the pubs about why I was here taking jobs from Canadians that I stopped driving downtown at night."

The emergence of an Asian stronghold in this region has not come without tension. Chinese citizens, first brought to Canada in the 1800s as railroad laborers, were invited to go home after the railroad was completed at the end of the last century. In the early 1920s, the Canadian government imposed Draconian restrictions on immigration from China.

Even today, some non-Asian locals are uneasy about the costs that wide-scale immigration is imposing on the region's resources. Large numbers of immigrant children arrive with only scant knowledge of English, for example, giving rise to complaints. "When we have to pay so much for the teaching of English, it clearly detracts from the money which could go to teaching other things," said Karen Malody, a local writer.

On a quiet side street in Vancouver's funky Broadway section, Vikram Vij is adding his own lively spices to traditional Indian cuisine. With a sparkling imagination and an original zest, the Bombay native is forsaking the typical curries common in Indian restaurants in favor of original recipes devised by him and his wife. The results make for a dazzling dining experience: grilled zucchini and other fresh vegetables, brought to life with sharp spices such as cardamom that are favored in India; and fiery-tasting meats and fish -- such as baked cod in a sharp Bengali sauce -- balanced with cool minty yogurt dishes or sauces from pomegranates and other exotic fruits.

The creative atmosphere about the place seemed to capture the attitude of Vancouver's leading Asian eateries. "In a city of great dining, where there is a lot of creativity in kitchens, our Asian restaurants are our best," said Kasey Wilson, Vancouver's leading food critic and the author of the local Zagat's guide.

Under Wilson's guidance, I sampled some of the Asian restaurants most favored by Vancouverites. They proved, with few exceptions, to offer some of the most refined and inspired food I have tried anywhere.

At Grand King Seafood Restaurant, the pan-fried live spot prawns in chile soyaallcq sent me halfway to Heaven; at the Vietnamese Phnom Penh, the pineapple-spiked hot and sour soup must have been the most delicious this side of Hanoi. The Malaysian pork chops at Tropika were wildly spicy. The deep-fried taro root dumplings and pan-fried turnip cake at Hon's, a new Chinese vegetarian restaurant, were delightfully succulent.

No display of culinary talents prepared me for the role Tojo Hidekazu's played of restaurateur as performance artist. From his perch behind the counter at the Japanese restaurant that bears his name, the mustachioed Japanese seemed like the director of a movie, orchestrating an evening to remember for every patron.

The first sign that a special evening was before me came with Tojo's first questions: What did you eat for lunch? What kinds of foods do you really love or hate? Do you have any allergies? Within minutes, a series of culinary creations were placed before me. Following the cherry-blossom-covered scallops came a tasty shrimp dumpling in a bonita sauce. The bonita, a small green plant, tingled when I touched it. Then came Tojo's specialty, a succulent cut of raw tuna marinated in his special soy sauce. A parade of other elegant dishes followed -- shrimp with shredded mushrooms in a tangy sauce

, to a cut of halibut, finely cooked and doused in a spicy sauce, and mango ice cream dessert. Three hours after entering the restaurant, I stood up and offered Tojo a well-deserved ovation.

From the sidewalks, the town of Richmond, just outside Vancouver, looks much like any other suburb in the Pacific Northwest. But behind the colorful storefronts, a new Asian community is springing up like an exotic wildflower.

About 40 percent Asian, Richmond has become the first stop for many new immigrants to the Vancouver area. The majority of the newcomers are Hong Kong natives who, fearing the worst, left the bustling Asian city before it was returned to China last year. The Asian neighborhoods here, which date to the 1970s, have burgeoned with their arrival.

In a series of five malls along the city's main thoroughfare, Asian entrepreneurs have re-created the kind of shopping and entertainment options they enjoyed back home. Here was an herbal shop offering a gamut of cures, from bear claws to ginseng and the private parts of deer. There was a shopping center with all manner of things Asian, including more than 50 brands of soy sauce, rice cakes, chile sauces and teas.

Above the Radisson President Hotel and Suites was a Buddhist temple, down the hall a bookstore featuring thousands of Chinese authors, across the street a movie theater showing only films from China.

"For many who have come from Asia, this is home, and so it is made to feel like home," explained Hong, a Radisson spokeswoman, as she guided me through the neighborhood. "Unless you make a trip to China, it would be hard to get more Asian than this."

Where to Stay: For great views of the area's scenery, it is hard to do better than the Pan Pacific (300-999 Canada Place Way, 1-800-937-1515), a first-class luxury hotel. Doubles go for $295 (all prices quoted are in U.S. dollars).

The Pacific Palisades (1277 Robson St., 1-800-663-1815), amid Vancouver's most stylish shopping and hanging out district, is a lovely, less pricey option. It's offering a theater package that includes a room for two, dinner and theater tickets for about $475 for a two-night weekend stay.

The centrally located Hotel Dakota (654 Nelson St., 604-605-4333) offers boutique-type lodging and is a good budget option. The rooms are basic but clean. Doubles go for about $70 a night.

For those who want to be in the heart of Vancouver's new Chinese community, the Radisson President Hotel and Suites (8181 Cambie Rd. in Richmond, 1-800-333-3333) is your best bet. For business travelers a single or double goes for about $100.

What to Do: For an introduction to Asian Vancouver, the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden (578 Carrall St., 604-689-7133) is a must. Admission is $4, including a guided tour. Composed as much of rock and wooden structures as of plants, it gives a good sense of how Chinese gardens differ from their Japanese and Western counterparts.

Another place of nature well worth visiting is the Nitobe Memorial Garden (Northwest Marine Drive, 604-822-6038), on the campus of the University of British Columbia. This is a traditional Japanese garden with wonderful cherry blossoms and a nice on-site tea house. Admission: $1.75.

Ten Ren Tea & Ginseng Co. (550 Main St., 604-684-1566) is a good place to shop for teas, of which there are dozens of varieties available. A tasting corner and on-site adviser will help guide you through the process.

Rockwood Adventures (604-926-7705), a boutique tour guide company run by the delightful Manfred Scholermann, offers guided walks through Chinatown and other sights in and around the city. His knowledge of the area and easy manner make his tours highly recommendable.

Where to Eat: The range and variety of Asian restaurants is daunting:

Tojo's (202-777 W. Broadway) is nearly impossible to beat for fine Japanese dining. Dinner for two, with sake and dessert, will run about $120.

Hon's Wun Tun House (1339 Robson St.) is a vegetarian version of a restaurant with a couple of locations throughout the city. For two, a flowing feast of dim sum will cost about $25.

Phnom Penh (244 E. Georgia St.) is a small restaurant in Chinatown that offers tasty meals at reasonable rates. I had a large bowl of noodle soup followed by a heaping plate of sauteed shrimp. For two, the tab came to $23.

Popular among locals, Vij's (1480 W. 11th Ave.) offers Indian dishes with a twist. Prepare for a wait, as the restaurant takes no reservations. I had cod in a curry sauce and fried zucchini for $28.

Tropika Malaysian Cuisine (3105 W. Broadway), although a bit far afield, is a friendly place that offers great Hainan chicken and coconut rice. For two, the bill came to $35.

Floata Seafood Restaurant (400-180 Keefer St.), in Chinatown, is a large eating hall that serves up plate after plate of refined dim sum. Lunch for two was $22.

Information: I highly recommend Vancouver Best Places (Sasquatch Books, $16.95), a thorough and helpful general guide. For general information, contact the Vancouver Tourist InfoCentre, 604-683-2000, http://www.tourism-vancouver.org.