The property battle in Vancouver’s Chinatown

THE smell of incense fills the narrow stairway of the Yue-Shan Society building, a social club for people with roots in Panyu, part of Guangzhou, a city in southern China. Barely audible is the tinking of a ping-pong ball on a table. On the first floor two games of mah-jong are being played, watched by a handful of onlookers. East Pender Street in Vancouver’s Chinatown is home to many such clubs for clans or benevolent associations. Melody Ma, a spectator in her 20s, recalls: “When I was small my grandma would bring me to one of these places.”

悦山社会俱乐部(Yue-Shan Society building)狭窄的楼梯上弥漫着熏香的味道，这是一群来自于中国南方城市广州番禺的人组成的社交俱乐部。几乎听不见桌上乒乓球的叮当声。在一楼，正在进行两场麻将比赛，还有几个旁观者。温哥华唐人街的东彭德街上有许多这样的为宗族或慈善团体设置的俱乐部。梅洛迪·马，一个20多岁的参观者，回忆道:“当我很小的时候，我奶奶会带我去这些地方。”

The gently sloping streets where Ms Ma grew up have not changed much. Vancouver has had a frantic property market since it hosted the winter Olympics in 2010. The downtown area is forested with new condominiums. Prices have risen by nearly 60% in the past three years, partly because of demand from non-resident Chinese investors. But until recently developers have largely shunned Chinatown. It is part of an area called Downtown Eastside, a district of rundown buildings, methadone clinics and rough sleepers. Many Chinatown residents are old and poor.

马女士成长的缓坡街道没有太大的变化。温哥华自2010年举办冬季奥运会以来，房地产市场呈现疯狂态势。市中心新公寓林立，在过去三年，价格上涨近60%，部分原因是因为非本国的中国投资者的需求。但是此前，开发商一直都避开唐人街，这是温哥华市中心东端的部分地区，一个破败的建筑区，充斥着美沙酮诊所和露宿者。许多唐人街的居民都是老人和穷人。

Developers now have Chinatown in their sights. Two years ago one built a 17-storey condo on its edge. This alarmed many residents, who had formed a group to halt the high-rise advance, now called #SaveChinatownYVR. Ms Ma is its leader. Recently it has been successful.

现在唐人街又进入了开发商的视线。两年前，一家公司在其边缘建造了一栋17层的公寓。这使许多居民恐慌，他们成立一支队伍来阻止高层建筑的发展，被称为“拯救唐人街”，马女士是其领导人，最近它取得了成功。

The main theatre of battle is a car park known as 105 Keefer, where Beedie Living proposes to build a nine-storey brick-and-glass apartment block. The developer promises 111 luxury flats, with rooftop landscaping and shops below.

战争的主要战场是一个叫做105基弗的停车场，开发商建议在那里建一栋9层高的砖墙玻璃公寓楼。开发商承诺将提供111个豪华公寓，包括屋顶绿化和楼下商店。

The patch of tarmac at 105 Keefer is not much to look at. But it is in an area rich with cultural associations, residents say. Just to the south is a monument that commemorates Chinese-Canadian builders of the Canadian Pacific Railway and veterans of the second world war. Across the street is the Sun Yat-sen Classical Chinese Garden and the Chinese Cultural Centre Museum. “A lot of people were appalled” because of the condo’s “proximity to sacred sites in the heart of Chinatown”, says Ms Ma. Some residents also fear that it will push up rents.

105号基弗那块地没有什么特别的，但当地居民说，这个地方有很多文化印记。南面的纪念碑，是为纪念建设太平洋铁路的中加建设者和二战退伍军人建造的。街对面是孙中山古典园林和中国文化中心博物馆。马女士表示，“很多人都感到震惊”，因为公寓“非常靠近唐人街中心的圣地”。一些居民也担心这会推高房租。

Conservationists hope that the parking lot is where they can halt development, which they say has spoilt the charm of other Vancouver neighbourhoods such as Mount Pleasant. The dispute is part of a debate about the city’s identity, says Andy Yan, an urban planner. Vancouverites, he says, are asking themselves,“Who are we? And what are we building for?” The people who might want to buy the flats that do not yet exist are, of course, not being consulted.

保护主义者希望能在停车场那个地方阻止发展，他们说这种发展破坏了温哥华其他地区的魅力，比如欢喜山。城市规划师Andy Yan说，这场争论是有关城市特性争论的一部分。他说，温哥华人在问自己:“我们是谁?”我们要建造什么?“那些可能想购买还不存在的公寓的人，当然，也没有被咨询过。

This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline "Chinese checkers"