Richmond Things to Do

The International Buddhist Temple (or Guan-Yin Temple) is the first and largest authentic Chinese temple in North America, and is built palace-style based on the Forbidden City. It has four large halls, two courtyards, and several little shrines, and is still being expanded. If you have more than 15 people, you can sign up for a guided tour. The temple also has the largest Buddha statue in North America, and the largest Buddhist mural in the world. The enormous thousand-hand-thousand-eye Guan-Yin statue is pretty impressive as well. The place is full of Chinese and Buddhist paintings, calligraphy, statues, and engravings... It's a wealth of art, culture, and tradition. Visitors can get vegetarian lunches in the Main Hall cafeteria, with a variety of Chinese dishes and tea. There is a gift shop upstairs, which sells Buddhist DVDs, prayer bead bracelets, and so on. The temple also has incense for offerings to all the Buddhas. In the Thousand Buddha Hall, you can seek advice from Guan-Yin and have it interpreted by an oracle. There are also meditation classes held by the Abbot, who speaks English, Cantonese, and Mandarin. Most of all, go see the classical Chinese garden! It's breathtaking both in the sunlight and when covered in snow... It has gazebos, a fountain, two lotus ponds, rocks and trees, and a little stone bridge. In one pond there is a fountain with white dragons. Even the short drive into the temple is scenic, with all the flowers, evergreens, and (plastic) deer. The temple is open to everyone, and you might run into the Abbot or the nuns while you're there. Just remember to go before closing time...

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If you want to feel like you've stepped out of North America and onto the Asian continent, the Richmond Night Market is your place. While it only occurs during the summer months (from June up until the end of September), this is definitely a must see for local Asian culture.

The Richmond Night Market is a collaboration of 100+ vendors selling all kinds of odds and ends - clothing, shoes, jewellery, stationary, plants, pet accesories, toys, CDs, DVDs, used video games, and much more. While it's not a high end shopping experience, it's a fun, energetic atmosphere and you can usually haggle the price.

The best part to the Richmond Night Market, in my opinion, is the food fair. It's not fine dining, but offers a great selection of Asian street food. While BBQ meat/seafood on bamboo skewers is the most common, you'll find a variety of sweet and savoury dishes - bubble tea, red bean cakes, Korean sweet rice pancakes, dragon's beard candy, shaved ice desserts, fresh fruit smoothies, bubble waffles, corn on the cob, mini donuts, hot dogs, crepes, BBQ pork buns, gyoza, okonomikayi, Vietnamese salad rolls, wontons, Chinese dumplings, curries, soups, and more.

The Richmond Night Market is only open on Fridays (7pm-midnight), Saturdays (7pm-midnight) and Sundays (7pm-11pm). The easiest way to get to the Richmond Night Market is by car, although you can reach it by bus as well. Maps and directions are located on the official website.

The London Heritage Farm (locally called "London Farm" or sometimes "London Farm House") is possibly the oldest farm in Richmond standing. It was first built in the 1880's by the London family. The Londons were one of the first pioneers to establish a permanent residence in Richmond.

The Londons took what was essentially swampy tidal flats along the river, built dykes to prevent flooding, and then established a farm site. They also built a house, and that is the very house that still stands.

The house and barn (with heritage farm equipment) are maintained as a museum that you can tour on your own or with a guide. It has a functioning tea room and a gift shop as well. Every room in the house (the kitchen, the drawing room, the bedrooms, etc) is designed to represent the 1880s. Thus, it is a Victorian farm house.

Occasionally the Farm House will hold special community events several times throughout the year. The land surrounding is still used for agricultural purposes, as it is saved in the Agricultural Land Reserve. There are also beautiful flowers gardens, a public community garden, beehives, and picnic tables. An extra bonus is that Gilbert Beach - a sandy beach on the Fraser River- is located across the street.

Richmond has a rich agricultural history that you don't quite experience in Steveston, or in the urbanized part of Richmond (like the north end of No 3 Road where all the malls are). If you enjoy history, the Victorian period, or just want something different to do, it's definitely worth a visit.

Admission is by donation.

Hidden behind the Richmond General Hospital and the Gateway Theatre lies a tranquil garden which has existed in Richmond for generations. Minoru Park is an urban park that combines recreational green spaces (a fitness park, a soccer field, and a racing oval) with traditional manicured gardens. The gardens have many walking trails which take visitors around two fish ponds. There are also lawn bowling greens on the east side of the park which are very popular with the senior citizens that live nearby.

A famous historical landmark, the Minoru Chapel, is located within Minoru Park. This chapel was built in 1891 as a Methodist church and is definitely one of the oldest structures still standing in Richmond. It has since been restored and has been protected as a heritage site for use of all denominations.

Located next to the landscape Pierrefonds Gardens (a garden whose name comes from Richmond's sister city, Pierrefonds, Québec), the chapel is a small-scale white structure with beautiful stained glass windows. One of the stained glass windows is dedicated to my paternal grandfather, Carl Hanson. The chapel is a very popular wedding location as it's a beautiful spot for photos. In addition, most Richmond high school students will come to the Minoru Chapel to get their high school graduation photos taken - mine included!

While I would not travel miles out of the way to visit Minoru Park, if you are in the area (shopping at Richmond Centre, for example, or visiting the Richmond Art Gallery, visiting the Richmond Public Library or attending a show at the Gateway Theatre), it would be worth the short detour if you're looking for a place to unwind.

Richmond Nature Park is a preserved bog ecosystem in the centre of Richmond. Originally, before European settlement, the majority of Richmond was a bog. Nowadays, while most of Richmond has been turned into an urban environment, the Richmond Nature Park offers a glimpse into Richmond's ecological past.

Aberdeen Centre was the first enclosed Asian mall in Richmond and all of Greater Vancouver. Originally it was a tiny shopping centre consisting of a handful of grocery stores, retail stores, tea merchants, a bowling alley and a movie theatre showcasing Asian films. It was more or less a local generic-looking strip mall catering to the Asian community.

After opening in 1989, Aberdeen's concept grew in popularity throughout Richmond. This is no surprise, as tens of thousands of wealthy immigrants, mostly from Hong Kong, were choosing Richmond as their new Canadian home.

Soon newer and larger Asian shopping centres were being built in the nearby areas along No 3 Road. Parker Place, President Plaza and Yaohan Centre were only the first of the many Asian shopping centres to arrive in central Richmond, turning the once sleepy town into the hub city of Asian culture in Greater Vancouver. Aberdeen Centre was eventually overshadowed by these malls.

However, in 2002 Aberdeen Centre was demolished for the sole purpose of building a larger and improved version. They brought in some of the city's top architects and constructed one of the most impressive malls in the entire country.

In 2003, the new Aberdeen Centre opened. It still blows my mind to this day. The new Aberdeen looks like something out of a futuristic Japanese sci-fi comic. Sleek curves, opaque, colourful glass, wide open spaces and feng shui modeled architecture is what dominates. Everything is spacious and high tech.

Aberdeen now has some of Richmond's coolest shops. There are trendy Hong Kong and Japanese clothing boutiques. There's Daiso, the giant Japanese import store where everthing is sold for $2. If you like beautifully crafted Japanese tea and dish sets, or traditional Chinese ginseng, you will also find it at Aberdeen. The store that always makes me smirk is the "BMW Lifestyle" store, where you can purchase merchandise bearing the BMW logo for a price which is certainly more than what it's worth!

Steveston Village had the largest commercial fishing harbour in Canada.
Since then, the village, with its ambient fishing village atmosphere, comes to life each summer, with plenty for visitors to see and do-heritage sites and parks, fresh seafood, great local restaurants, colourful gift shops and markets.

This attraction is a theme park modeled after Coeverden, Holland (which was home to Captain George Vancouver's ancestors). It includes flower gardens, rides, a miniature train, an Olde World Village, a windmill, a carillon bell tower, and a castle. At Christmas, there is a spectacular light show with over 75,000 lights. You can also enjoy Sunday brunch in the Glass Conservatory.