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Line of people walk across a city street front. Signage features Chinese characters and parking lot entrance lighting in the shape of two large dragons.

Changing Chinatown

Date

September 12 at 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm

Location

Start Point

Huron Square (Huron Street & Dundas Street West)

End Point

Julius Deutsch Park (40 Cecil Street)

Cost

$10.05 per person

Registration

Please register below
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September 12 at 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm

From its Jewish roots to the growth of Toronto’s Chinatown, see how community activism continues to shape the neighbourhood today.

Discover the past and present along Spadina Avenue through stories of migration, resistance, and change.

On this walk, we explore Toronto’s Chinatown West, an area with a rich history of both cultural intersections and fierce advocacy. Engage with the mythology and symbolism of Chinese traditions, seen in public art and murals. Learn how a modern community centre was the former home of a gay advocacy group, a synogogue, and a Chinese Catholic Church. We’ll also hear about community battles against historic racist laws, and past and ongoing development pressures which threaten key neighbourhood organizations, businesses, restaurants.

This emerging historian tour will be led by Sherry Wu, a sustainable strategist with a background in climate advocacy, public facilitation, and storytelling. Born in Beijing and raised in London, Ontario, Sherry Wu brings both a personal and evolving connection to Chinese Canadian history and to Toronto’s Chinatown.

Alternate date

This event will also be held on the following date:
Image women, whose back is towards the camera, in a grey t-shirt with the words Heritage Toronto displayed on it. She is holding up an abacus and showing it to a group of tour participants who are standing in front of her. The group is in a Chinese herbal medicine shop.
Tour leader showing abacus to tour group, Chinatown West, July 21, 2019. Image by Ali Mosleh.

People stand on a walkway. One gestures with her hand to point out an iron statue depicting a creature from Chinese mythology.
Huron Square’s Qilin bronze statue, Changing Chinatown tour, June 8, 2023. Image by Johnny Wu.
Group walks down street in Chinatown with storefront signs on left side.
Chinatown West, Dundas and Spadina, June 1, 2019. Image by Kristen McLaughlin.
A tour guide stands with her back to the camera while she faces the members of a tour group. The group all stand on a large sidewalk in front of a restaurant with Vietnamese writing on its facade.
Tour leader Jingshu Yao on the Changing Chinatown tour, Spadina Avenue, May 11 2024.

Registration

This tour is provided for $8.00/person. The total cost is $10.05 (includes a $2.05 transaction fee). Please note that space is limited on our tours. You may not be able to join a tour group if you have not registered ahead of time through our website.

Huron Square

Huron St & Dundas St W
Toronto, ON M5T1G6 + Google Map

Accessibility

 This tour is approximately 1.5 kilometres in distance and takes place on city sidewalks and is relatively flat. The group will have to cross Spadina which is a major and busy street.

Public washrooms are located at Chinatown Centre, 222 Spadina Avenue, and the Cecil Community Centre, 58 Cecil Sreet. At the end of the tour, there is a food court located at 700 University Avenue.

FAQs

Our staff and volunteers will be at the tour’s starting location 30 minutes prior to each tour. Please arrive at least 10-15 minutes prior to the start of the tour to allow time for check-in. Feel free to call us at (647) 542-3450 if you are having trouble finding the start location.

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