Time flies, we are almost one month in Vancouver already, tomorrow it’s exactly 4 weeks since we left China. Life has been busy, but not just with work. Lots of things had to be arranged for our new house and we also did quite some sightseeing already. Just a couple of pictures from the past 4 weeks with some short comments, to give you an idea of what we are up to here.
Trail running in Vancouver is amazing, the forests are beautiful with hundreds of kilometers of well-maintained trails. I run here regularly, this trail is about 15 minutes running from our house.
The only thing I am worried about while running is wild life. There are quite some bears around, but I was told by a fellow runner that the bears are generally fairly harmless. Just don’t make sudden moves, don’t look them in the eye, and try to move away from the bear. I don’t look forward to my first encounter.
There is still quite some snow on the mountains, so we do winter sports regularly. The first thing we tried was snowshoeing, a nice way to hike in the snow. I also did some downhill skiing already and went cross-country skiing.
Hollyburn mountain has some good snowshoe and cross-country trails, just 20 minutes from our house. It’s amazing how quickly the environment can change. One moment you are having a coffee in the sun in your garden and half an hour later you are in the woods surrounded by huge masses of snow.
View from my new office at CrossPacific Capital in Vancouver, the office is located in the middle of Gastown, the entertainment district.
Beach in Kitsilano, with view of Vancouver’s North Shore. In summer it will be a bit more busy here!
Heavy snow while driving up to Hollyburn and Cypress Mountain. If it rains in town it normally snows on top of the mountains.
Having a drink while watching the sunset. After years of only seeing Shanghai’s urban jungle I still enjoy every time I see the sunset here. That may be different in 6 months, not sure.
Elaine is proud of her season pass for Cypress Mountain, but…
… she does not like skiing very much yet!
Scott’s first time on skis, he was very excited. We’ll put him in a ski class in December this year.
High up on Cypress Mountain, with a view of the ocean and Bowen Island in the back
Horseshoe Bay as seen from the ski slopes of Cypress Mountain
Scott watching a big ship passing under the Lions Gate Bridge
View over Gastown from Notey.com’s rooftop terrace – and with a view of the XPCP office.
With the kids in Stanley Park after a visit to the Vancouver aquarium
Scott climbing the logs at Dundarave Beach
Elaine on the playground at Dundarave Beach
Vancouver and it’s surroundings are so beautiful and of the big cities Vancouver is probably the most laid back. It’s really an ideal living environment. Clean and safe.
and isn’t that what it’s all about ?
family ! 😉
How are you dealing with Canadian social negativity towards WM/AF couples?
I am not aware of any social negativity for mixed couples here, haven’t encountered any nor heard anybody talk about it in Vancouver. In Shanghai it’s more an issue than here I feel.
Vancouver has more interracial couples and less residential segregation than Canada’s two largest cities, Toronto and Montreal. In total, 7.2% of married and common-law couples in Greater Vancouver are interracial; double the Canadian average of 3.2%, and higher than in Toronto (6.1%) and Montreal (3.5%).
In the city of Vancouver, 47.1% of the population are members of visible minority groups as of the 2001 Census.[23]
Aboriginal peoples, who make up less than two percent of the city’s population, are not considered a visible minority group by Statistics Canada.
Canada 2006 Census Population % of Total
Population
Ethnicity Source: [24] White 268,720 47.0
Chinese 168,215 29.4
South Asian 32,515 5.7
Filipino 28,605 5.0
Southeast Asian 14,850 2.6
Japanese 9,730 1.7
Korean 8,780 1.5
Latin American 8,225 1.4
First Nations 7,510 1.3
Mixed visible minority 7,320 1.3
Black 5,290 0.9
West Asian 5,355 0.9
Métis 3,230 0.6
Arab 1,875 0.3
Other visible minority 990 0.2
Inuit 40 0
Total population 571,600 100
Great pictures. Regarding wildlife there is certainly some tricks or products to carry with you in order to scare the bears, or give some repulsive effect ? I was also worried about this while living in Vc
The key with bears is to make lots of noise so they know you’re around and you don’t surprise them. Some people suggest talking or singing, and stores like Mountain Equipment Co-op sell “bear bells” that you can strap on to your arms or legs.
My parents moved back to Vancouver after many years in Asia (Tokyo/HK/Singapore) and say they never, ever get tired of the scenery.
Andrew, I indeed have bear bells (and coincidentally bought them at Mountain Equipment Co-op!), but I wonder if the bear can really hear the sound. I also find them slightly annoying. Worse, I was reading in an online forum that in areas with lots of runners bears may actually be attracted by the bell sound (they identify it with human beings and won’t run away when they hear it). I’ll just be careful, make occasional sounds and hope I will never surprise a bear.
You should start wearing a helmet when skiing! And also your kids! Safety first!!!
Christof, interesting that you mention that. I noticed that in Europe many people seem to be wearing helmets while skiing nowadays, very different from the time that I still skied there (over 10 years ago). Never really thought about it for myself actually (it seems to take away from the feeling of freedom that I have while skiing), but my kids will certainly get helmets next season once they start taking ski lessons.
tl;dr
Use a helmet, it is perfect 😀
I can assure you that once you go helmet you never want to go back!
It is in a way the samy thing with the security belt in the car. If I don’t fasten it I feal very unsafe and uncomfortable. Same now with the helmet. I once had to ski a couple of 100m w/o it and it just felt wrong after the first meter (though I realized WHY it felt wrong just after 20/30m or so).
One more benefit: The goggles are always in a safe position when putting them down (well, up) and they don’t fog like they do if you put them on your cap.
And even climate issues are gone, I don’t freeze during cold periods and the sweating during warmer periods (march…) is also not a problem.
And now add secuirty as an argument and you never want to ride without a helmet: 😉