Vancouver Chinatown recieves two new “gates”: Jade Abacus and white marble gate
Two new “Gates” were revealed in Vancouver's Chinatown on Oct 22 and Oct 29th.
The first was the gift from Vancouver's sister city of Guangzhou.
White marble panels set on the original chinese gate from Expo 86, in
front of the Chinese Cultural Centre on Pender St.
The second is a public art commission by artist Gwen Boyle, a green
jade abacus, at the Keefer St. entrance to “historic” Shanghai Alley.
My friend Larry Wong was there and he took some pictures.
It was a very good turnout. Dr. Wally Chung and his wife Dr.
Madeline Chung (who delivered me!) were there as were city officials
involved in the project.
Larry writes:
For those who haven't been to Chinatown for awhile and those living outside of Vancouver, I wanted to show you two new gates.
Today I was at an unveiling of a
large jade abacus in a form of a sculptured gate by Gwen Boyle.
Gwen's family lived in Chinatown, her father being Dong Jam Lung, a
jeweller and goldsmith. The Gate is located at the end of
Shanghai Alley on Keefer Street as you can see in the photograph of
Gwen and her jade abacus.
At today's ceremony, Gwen mother,
Mrs.Daisy Dong, who is 104 years old unveiled the sculpture. The
other gate was unveiled at a ceremony attended by representatives of
the cities of Vancouver and Guangzhou Saturday October 22 as a gift
from Vancouver's twin city.
Larry is President of the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of BC. Check out their website at www.cchsbc.ca
E-mail them at info@cchsbc.ca
Artist Gwen Boyle – photo Larry Wong
Gwen's mother did the unveiling of Suan Phan :Jade Abacus – photo Larry Wong
New white marble “gate” in front of Chinese Cultural Centre in
Vancouver. The “gate” is a replacement for the original “Chinese
Gate” from Expo 86. The concrete pillars were created to blend in
with the concrete design of the Chinese Cultural Centre, originally
designed by architect James Cheng – photo Larry Wong
