Walking tour of Ottawa’s Chinatown

My walking tour begins at the Plant Recreation Centre and ends at the Chinatown Arch. Throughout the walk, participants will learn about one of Ottawa’s most diverse and vibrant neighbourhoods, its history, cultures, and architectural details, including public murals, sidewalk art, and of course the Chinatown Arch!

Location
Route

We'll meet in front of the Plant Recreation Centre on the southwest corner of Somerset and Preston. From there, we will walk east up the hill on Somerset, past the Vietnamese memorial site, the Chinatown commercial area and the Dalhousie Community Centre, towards the Chinatown Arch where the walk will end.

About the walk leader

Don is an Ottawa-based artist working in sculpture, installation, photography, and performance. A third-generation Chinese Canadian, he has turned to his own experiences and challenges as a gay, East Asian artist to ground conversations about identity, representations, and inter-generational memory-making in the diaspora. Don has often led walking tours of Ottawa's Chinatown. People will also know him as the founder of the Chinatown Remixed Art Festival 2009-2022 and as the co-owner of the Shanghai Restaurant.


Visit Don's website.



Guide:

Don Kwan

When:
Date:Sat May 4, 2024
Time:2:00 PM
Duration: 1 hour
Language: English
Where:
Start:Plante Bath Recreation Centre
End:Chinatown Arch
Area:Chinatown
Distance:1.0 km
Accessibility:

The walk will follow city sidewalks. Note that the route is mainly uphill.

Walker Sign-up

This walk requires you to sign up to attend or join a waitlist if walk is full. Please submit your email and the number of walkers that will be attending with you below.

Gallery
Ottawa's Chinatown is distinguished by a traditional Paifang archway spanning Somerset St, west of Bronson Ave. The Plant Recreation Centre (formerly the Plant Bath) at Somerset and Preston Sts.
Volunteer to Marshal This Walk