We welcome students and youth groups of all backgrounds to join us for engaging, hands-on learning activities designed to spark curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking.
The Chinatown Storytelling Centre welcomes school visits for grades 4 and up, with a range of guided tours, learning activities, and neighbourhood walks as available options.
We offer year-round school programs, seasonal Lunar New Year programs, and add-on craft activities or walking tours that can be adapted to suit your students’ interests and needs.
Our programs can be paired with a visit to other Chinatown attractions, including the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, the Chinese Canadian Museum, or Dragon Boat BC.
Please see below for program descriptions and how to sign up.
How did Chinese immigrant communities maintain a sense of identity and overcome the challenges of discrimination to settle in Vancouver’s Chinatown? How did they strive to create a sense of home and belonging?
Students will explore these questions by engaging with our interactive exhibits and touchable teaching collection. By investigating and reflecting on historic photos, head tax certificates, and personal belongings, students will be introduced to discriminatory policies that defined the Chinese Canadian experience as well as the community’s diligent efforts to overcome them.
Core Competencies
- Communicating: connecting & engaging with others, acquiring and presenting information
- Critical & Reflective Thinking: analyze and make ethical judgements, questioning and investigating
- Positive Personal and Cultural Identity: understanding relationships and cultural contexts
Total length
90 minutes
Grade levels
5-10
Cost per student
$10.00
As a distinctive neighbourhood filled with cultural and historic sites, Chinatown’s public places are a precious and integral part of the city. How does Chinatown honour and protect its heritage in the public art and monuments around the neighbourhood? Whose stories are missing?
We’ll survey Chinatown’s past and present sites of cultural and artistic significance on a walking tour, then invite students to create their own piece of “public art” through a creative “vision board” collage activity.
Core Competencies
- Creative Thinking: creating & innovating, generating & incubating.
- Social Awareness & Responsibility: building relationships, resolving problems, valuing diversity.
- Communicating: connecting & engaging with others, focusing on intent & purpose
- Positive Personal and Cultural Identity: understanding relationships and cultural contexts.
Total length
90 minutes
Grade levels
9-12
Cost per student
$10.00
As the weather warms up, let's get your students moving with our active, hands-on education programs! From guided walking tours that explore Chinatown’s history to interactive workshops that bring culture to life, our programs are designed to keep students engaged, curious, and connected to the community.
Come learn about the most beloved and iconic performances seen around Chinatown—dragon and lion dancing! Through stories, archival footage, and artifacts, your students will explore the cultural significance and fascinating evolution of these performances in Chinatown's history. We’ll even practice some dance steps to get everyone moving! This program was developed in partnership with the Hon Hsing Athletic Club, founded in Chinatown in 1939.
Total length
90 minutes
Grade levels
5-12
Cost per student
$10.00
Starting in May 2025, bring your grade 5–12 class on a special walking tour of Chinatown! We'll explore the newly installed Suzhou Alley Women’s Mural—a powerful tribute to the many Chinese Canadian women who helped shape the community. As we visit the mural and other commemorative sites, students will learn about Chinatown's vibrant history and resilient spirit. We'll consider how public art continues to evolve, creating space for lesser-known stories to be shared and honoured.
This community-led mural commemorates the impactful legacies of women who helped shape Vancouver's Chinatown and its broader community. Led by Elisa Yon and Janet Wang, the project brought together a talented team of local artists from Chinatown and extended Chinese Canadian communities. Featuring prominent Chinese Canadian women like Dr. Madeline Chung, Nellie Yip Quong, and Vivian Jung, the mural celebrates their contributions across diverse fields, including education, arts and culture, foodways, social justice, politics, the military, and medicine. More info here.
Total length
60 minutes
Grade levels
5-12
Cost per student
$8.00
Extend your visit with a craft activity, designed to supplement our existing school programs and learning outcomes. Inquire at booking to learn about the variety of craft activities available. Examples include lantern making, Cantonese Opera headdress making, Chinatown postcards, and more! Students will get to take home their creations! (grade 4 - 12, approx. 30 min)
Extend your visit with a guided walking tour, highlighting Chinatown’s unique heritage sites and landmarks along Pender Street. All guided tours are led by our education staff and/or trained docents. (grade 5 - 12, approx. 30 min)
Additional cost for add-on activities: $8 per student (materials included), adult chaperones join for free.
Booking details
All 90 minute programs cost $10 per student, with a minimum fee of $250 per booking. Add-on activities are an additional $8 per student (materials included). All teachers and adult chaperones may join for free.
Due to limited space, we can host a maximum of 35 students per class. For groups larger than 35, we’ll need to split the group in two classes and rotate them through the space. We have flexibility to adjust the length of the programs and add-on activities to suit your schedule.
We recommend booking at least 2 weeks in advance.
Bookings are not 100% confirmed until payment has been received in full. We will hold your requested date for 7 days from when the payment link is sent to you. Bookings are made on a first come, first served basis.
If cost poses a barrier for your visit, please contact our team directly as we may have scholarships available.
Ready to book?
Please fill out the booking request form below and our education staff will connect with you asap.
If you have any questions or would like support planning your visit, please email: bookings@chinatownfoundation.org.
Thank you for observing these guidelines to ensure a wonderful experience for all visitors. We look forward to your visit!
While the Chinatown Storytelling Centre does not offer on-site parking, there is an EasyPark parking complex located three-minutes away in Chinatown Plaza at 106 Keefer Street. There is also metered street parking.
School bus parking: Please proceed to the free 2 hr bus parking on Keefer Street between Carrall St. and Columbia St., just behind the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Chinese Classical Garden.
Bus: The 19, 22, 50, 3, and 8 buses stop at the intersection of Pender and Main Street.
SkyTrain: The Chinatown Storytelling Centre is a ten-minute walk from Stadium-Chinatown Station and Main Street-Science World Station.
Upon arrival, please proceed to the Ticketing Desk to check in.
Please let us know by calling the On-site Facilitator listed on the booking form or our main line: 604-225-0055.
We do not have any storage areas but we encourage students to leave backpacks and jackets on one of our carts that will be rolled into the Storytelling Centre during your visit.
Please note that the CSC is NOT responsible for lost or stolen items.
Yes, we are accessible on one ground floor with wheelchair accessible washrooms.
Like most museums, our exhibit has a strict no food or drink policy for all visitors inside the exhibit areas. Chinatown is home to many delicious restaurants and cafes and we are happy to provide suggestions if your group is interested in eating at a nearby establishment.
Yes, we love when teachers bring their classes to spend the day in Chinatown! We are excited to offer a 10% discount for classes that visit us, the Chinese Canadian Museum, and/or the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. Please email bookings@chinatownfoundation.org or indicate on your school program booking form that you’re planning to visit multiple organizations on the same day and we will get in touch to arrange the details of your visits.
