“Post-apocalyptic scenes": Poor tourist reviews hurt Chinatown businesses

It seems businesses in Vancouver’s Chinatown neighbourhood just cannot catch a break.

Recently, Daily Hive uncovered the reviews that tourists have been leaving on the neighbouring community of Gastown and they weren’t pretty.

Well, Chinatown’s reviews are just as sharp, and local businesses say they are getting the brunt end of the stick as a result of the bad publicity. 

If you visit websites like Yelp and Tripadvisor, tourists are leaving unflattering comments about the historic neighbourhood.

Descriptions like “dangerous” and “disgusting” have become common terms used to describe the area.

Encampments in Downtown Vancouver

Of the 908 reviews left on Tripadvisor, 299 ranked Chinatown as terrible, 195 as poor, 186 as average, 151 as very good, and only 77 as excellent. 

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One visitor wrote that the visit was, “one of the most traumatic experiences I ever had in my whole life.” 

After following Lonely Planet’s advice to visit Vancouver’s Chinatown, Tripadvisor reviewer, Greta wrote, “Thousands homeless massed in filthy tents, many of them smoking crack or taking heroin, desperate people looking for one more doze, naked people walking around. I felt like I was experiencing hell and I’ll never be able to cancel those images from my mind.”

I miss going to #Chinatown but I never go anymore. Too uncomfortable even in the daytime. #shopping #Vancouver #Canada https://t.co/tL1oT2081Y

— Csilla Fel (@CsillaFel) August 10, 2022

Jordan Eng, president of Chinatown’s Business Improvement Association, told Daily Hive that these reviews are not unexpected. 

“Chinatown has been ringing the alarm bells for a long time receiving only lip service from the politicians. Our neighborhood has been experiencing the overflow and collateral damage of what is happening on Hastings Street — social disorder, graffiti, anti-Asian defacement of cultural institutions,” he said. 

The BIA has been hearing from more local business owners about the difficulties of keeping afloat financially, “especially with the dramatic coverage of homeless encampment, lawlessness, and disrespect of authority.”

He says local businesses are doing the best they can in a bad situation. But he adds that raising the alarm bells in the recent coverage of the DTES encampment is only turning away visitors in what should be the busiest time of the year. 

“As a neighboring community we have compassion for what is going on, but we need to get the message out that the system that has allowed this crisis is broken,” said Eng.

Encampments in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside/Daily Hive

What used to be once or twice a month, poor reviews are now being posted almost every day. Another tourist warned visitors to stay away from the neighborhood after likening it to “post-apocalyptic scenes.”

“We have a concentration of people with mental health issues and drug addiction, and the government, funded by taxpayers, has institutionalized this neighborhood with supporting services and funding advocates who perpetuate the status quo,” said Eng.

But it’s not all negative. One tourist recently raved about the neighbourhood, saying they have been living in an Airbnb in Chinatown for three weeks, and wrote that it has some of the best restaurants in the city and is awesome to visit. 

“Volunteers are out every day cleaning the streets. Obviously, there [are] a lot of people living on the streets, avoid them if it makes you uncomfortable. They’ll leave you alone also there’s lots of security around. There’s so much history here to explore and experience,” they wrote.

With files from Amir Ali