The city of Vancouver is the third largest city in Canada and the cultural center of western Canada.  You will find restaurants, theaters, art galleries and museums in abundance.  Visit the Maritime Muesum or the Vancouver Centennial Museum.  At the University of British Columbia's Museum of Anthropology you will find a collection of Indian art and artifacts, including a marvelous array of totem poles and a reconstructed Haida village.  Or enjoy the thousands of acres of parks with lovely gardens and cascading streams to walk or hike for the day.

Vancouver is home to people of many ethnic backgrounds and religions. It contains the second largest Chinatown in North America, (after San Francisco). Street signs written in Chinese and Punjabi (with original English names) can be seen in those respective cultural communities. Prior to the hand-over of Hong Kong to China many Chinese immigrants made Vancouver their home. Vancouver is Canada's largest port and North America's gateway for Asia-Pacific trade. It ranks second in North America in total foreign exports and second on the West Coast in total cargo volume.