Description of Historic Place

The Chinese Market Gardens consist of a collection of three one-storey, vernacular, wood-framed farm houses sited in the part of Musqueam Indian Reserve 2 known colloquially as 'Hong Kong Garden.' Musqueam Indian Reserve 2 is situated at the southwest corner of the City of Vancouver on the Fraser River.

Heritage Value

The Chinese Market Gardens have historical, economic, cultural and social value, principally for being rare remaining evidence of Chinese Canadian market gardening in the province, and also for illustrating the living and working relationship between Chinese Canadians and First Nations.

Originally constructed by farmer See Quin Leong in the 1950s, the farmhouses are valued as the last remaining structures representing 18 Chinese Canadian farms originally present on Musqueam Reserve 2. Their location at Hong Kong Garden on Musqueam reserve lands is important both for recalling the numerous market garden farms that at one time occupied Musqueam lands in Vancouver, and as an illustration of one of the ways in which Chinese Canadian farmers could cultivate land despite restrictions on owning agricultural land and obtaining water rights.

The Gardens are valued as a physical reminder of the extensive and renowned Chinese Canadian market gardening industry located along the north shore of the Fraser River downstream from New Westminster. This industry supplied much of the Lower Mainland's produce before the large-scale importation of vegetables from international sources. A legacy of the time when Chinese Canadians were excluded from a number of other jobs and professions, Chinese market garden farms constituted an important part of the Chinese Canadian community's employment and contributed substantially to the economy of the Lower Mainland.

The remains of the farmhouses, including the remaining original material of the three wood frame farmhouses and artifacts associated with Chinese culture within the houses, such as Chinese characters written on the walls, are important as physical reminders of the market gardens and the people who lived and worked there.

This historic place is culturally and socially important for the many Musqueam and Chinese Canadians across the Lower Mainland who are descendants of the Chinese Market Garden community. Business and other records still held by Musqueam relating to the agricultural activities of the Chinese Canadian farmers who emigrated to the province from Guangdong province in China help represent the historical and long-standing relationship of mutual respect and reciprocity between Chinese Canadians and the Musqueam people.

The Gardens are part of a conscious program of remembrance for the Musqueam people, offering an opportunity for teaching and learning about the history of Chinese Canadians in B.C., and their living and working relationships with Musqueam and other First Nations at a time when both were under legislative discrimination.

Source: Province of British Columbia, Heritage Branch

Character-Defining Elements

Not applicable.