<\/p>\n
\nby Mark Schatzker<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/p>\n \nVancouver may be hosting the WInter Olympics, but it \n \n
\nalso seems to triumph in dumpling devouring. Over 38 meals in 12
\nrestaurants, our indefatigable writer beholds the thrill of noodle
\npulling. (Warning: Don’t read this on an empty stomach)<\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\nForget about dumpling hunting in San Francisco. Cancel that pilgrimage
\nto Flushing, Queens, for fish ball soup. If it’s Chinese food you’re
\nafter, pack your chopsticks for Vancouver—and say a silent thanks to
\ngeopolitics as your plane lands. It was 1997’s repatriation of Hong
\nKong that began the mass influx of Chinese to British Columbia’s lower
\nmainland, a migration which continues to this day, fueled in part by
\nCanada’s immigrant-friendly policies. Today, almost one in five of
\nVancouver’s two million residents is ethnically Chinese.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\nCombine those demographics with the city’s legendary seafood and you
\nhave the recipe for an outsize number of extremely good Cantonese,
\nShanghainese, and Szechuan restaurants. According to local Chinese food
\ncritic and writer Stephanie Yuen—who was born in Hong Kong and has
\neaten extensively there, in mainland China, and in Taiwan—Vancouver is
\nhome to the best Chinese food in the world. Period. Perhaps that
\nexplains why visitors from Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou have
\nstarted showing up in Vancouver just to eat the food they so love.
\nMaybe it’s time you did likewise.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n