China News Service, July 30. According to the Canadian "Sing Tao Daily" report, after the Sing Tao Daily reported last month that the health situation in Vancouver, Canada's Chinatown has been greatly improved for more than one month, some institutions and businesses in Chinatown said that the city government is still Continue to send people to clean the Chinatown, so that the sanitary condition can be maintained, and the number of new graffiti has been reduced, but it still takes time to remove the existing graffiti.

Most shops are still closed, and some businesses that have opened their doors for business said that their business has improved compared to earlier, but there are still many difficulties.

　　The reporter saw on the streets of Chinatown on Wednesday (28th) that most of the streets remained basically tidy, even the back alleys were very clean.

The last time the reporter photographed a back alley filled with garbage and broken fences, it has been replaced with a higher fence with wire entangled to prevent climbing, and the inside is also very clean.

The reporter also saw from time to time city government workers picking up rubbish and washing sidewalks on the street.

However, about 80% of the shops on the street remained closed and the iron gates were locked.

　　Guo Yinghua, chairman of the Greater Vancouver Chinese Cultural Center and chairman of the Chinese Association, said that the city government has been sending people to clean Chinatown, but the homeless still gather here, and incidents of attacks on Chinese still occur from time to time.

Last Saturday (24th) afternoon, a souvenir shop at the entrance of the Cultural Center was set on fire. After the owner called the police, the police arrived and arrested the suspect.

However, he pointed out that he heard the suspect speak some racial hatred language, including "the most hated Chinese and people of color." When the police arrived, he also said that this was a hate crime, so he handed it over to another group of police officers. But the second group The police only sued for misconduct.

Guo Yinghua believes that this reduces the prosecution and condones hate criminals in disguise.

　　Guo Yinghua said that the flow of people in Chinatown has increased a bit more recently than before. Some restaurants have begun to have guests drinking tea, but the business volume still needs to continue to recover.

He said that Chinatown is a tourist attraction, but if the public security is not good, even the tour guide will warn tourists not to go.

　　Huang Guozheng, chairman of the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, said that the city government allocated an additional $50,000 to clean up graffiti and imposed a fine policy on graffiti. This has indeed reduced the number of new graffiti in Chinatown, but it will take some time to clean up the existing graffiti.

In addition, business recovery also takes time. Some shops in Chinatown have not yet opened for business, but some have been permanently closed.

　　He believes that Chinatown urgently needs the strong support of the three levels of government, just like supporting the Granville Island (Granville Island) project, the epidemic subsidy alone is not enough.

Moreover, many companies in Chinatown were unable to meet the requirements for receiving subsidies, making it difficult for them to maintain, and they were forced to close their doors.

　　Ms. Wu, the proprietor of Xincheng Bakery, said that since residents can travel within the province and nationwide, the store’s business has indeed improved a lot, but Chinatown is still facing the problem of high parking fees, which affects the source of customers.

She said that Chinatown is not a high-spending place. Many customers find it difficult to afford the on-street parking fee of 5 Canadian dollars an hour, so they are unwilling to spend in Chinatown.

However, the parking fee issue in Chinatown has been responding to the city government, but it has not been resolved.

　　Ms. Chen, who opened a gift shop in front of the Metro Vancouver Cultural Center, said that she had just taken over the shop in early 2020, and she did not expect to encounter the new crown pneumonia epidemic as soon as it opened.

Because she invested a lot of money and hoarded a lot of goods, she had to bite the bullet and continue to operate.

However, during the epidemic, the landlord never gave any rent concessions, and the thieves patronized every few days. Last Saturday (24th) someone set the shop on fire.

　　Ms. Chen pointed to the storefront that had been messed up with plastic panels, plexiglass panels, and tape, and said: "This is a tourist souvenir shop. It should have paid attention to the image of the store, but in order not to be damaged, I had to seal the door as this. Looks like, but still can't stop them." The original reinforced plexiglass on her door has been burned and left aside, and the door is now only covered by a layer of plastic.

　　In addition, the free tour area of ​​Zhongshan Park next to it has not been opened. Ms. Chen said that the business of the souvenir shop is very dependent on tourists from Zhongshan Park. Although the business is better now than in April and May, the closure of Zhongshan Park still affects her business greatly. .

(Wang Xuewen)