A Wednesday Walk Down Fan Tan Alley
Hi friends, come along with me for a #wednesdaywalk hosted by @tattoodjay. I actually took this walk one day last October, so this all is just a memory... that's why it looks all cartoony, you understand?
We are headed to Fan Tan Alley in Victoria's China town. This is the narrowest street in Canada - at some points it's only 39 inches wide. Lets go. We'll take a left at that sign.
Apparently the the alley takes its name from a Chinese gambling game called fan-tan. Back in the gold rush days, this was home to gambling dens, secret underground tunnels, opium dens and brothels.
Plenty of people were killed here, and there are ghosts in every building. They close this place up at night and I'd like to think it's because of all the damn ghosts!
Today it's all about the tourist business. Little shops: clothing, books and crystals, fortune tellers, restaurants. You want an opium den, you might need to know a secret handshake or special way to knock on a door. I'm just guessing of course...
Here we are at the other end of the alley - the whole thing is only one block long.
There was a movie called Bird On A Wire shot here in 1990 starring Mel Gibson and Goldie Hawn. Click to see a great chase scene through the streets of Victoria with Mel Gibson riding a motorcycle down Fan Tan Alley. He gets to Fan Tan Alley at roughly the two minute mark of this clip. They must have gone up and down that alley 20 times during this scene because they make it look like it's a mile long instead of a single block! I just realized the sound track of this clip is in Spanish! Too funny - it's all about the visual effects in any case! :-)
Thanks a lot for coming along on this walk. I'll leave you with a few more images from China Town, Victoria, BC.
Thank you @pixresteemer!
Very interesting walk! I wouldn’t be there at night! Don’t want to see any ghosts!
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What a fun #WednesdayWalk this is! Chinatown in any city is always one of my favorite places to walk through, but, it is your descriptive narrative that really makes the whole post shout out loud. It is a menagerie of color and intrigue!
That narrow alley is so cool and I will bet when those buildings were built, it was a mistake of sorts and they just made an alley we out of it. Do you think they really built things way back when and said let's build the smallest alley in the world? I'm going to go with my theory. I went along with your ghost story, so I think you owe me that.
Thanks so much for taking me for a stroll. You really have one of the best storytelling abilities around. I need to apologize if I am probably close to 0% in voting power, but I will need you with a !tip and I'm taking this home.
I'm glad you like it - and I must say you write the best comments! You could be correct about the origins of the narrow little street. I'll go along with your theory! Unless of course, it was some fortune teller 150 years ago who made sure the thing was wide enough for a motorcycle? Nah... that's crazy talk!! :) Thank you Denise, I sure do appreciate all your suppprt!
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I remember that movie and what a cool alley I had heard of it but never seen it
I never knew it got so narrow in places
Such cool shots and edits
Thanks for joining Wednesday Walk !tip
Thanks so much, @tattoodjay! Sure wish I could physically be there for one of your NYC walks!
I can understand that thought i think the same with your and some other walks wishing I was there
Oh I would have to find some dim sum!
Thank you - I'm pretty sure the Fan-Tan Cafe could help you with that! ( Pic number five) I should check that out myself! :)
ha! Howdy sir Keith, I didn't know Victoria had a chinatown but I suppose most decent sized cities do don't they? At least it seems like it. Anyway, it's an interesting little street with a rich history for sure! lol. Very interesting photos too! I bet they have a good Chinese herbal store in Chinatown don' they?
Oldest China town in Canada, from roughly the same time period as the one in San Franciso. I'm sure there's a good herbal store. More than one I would think :-) If you haven't already done it, you should watch Mel Gibson and the motorcycle chase scene through Fan Tan Alley!
yes sir I watched that clip of Mel Gibson and Goldi Hawn haha! That was hilarious after you said the street is only one block long! ha! they made it look like it was a half mile long. Hey my voting power is at 40 percent so I'm going to try and take a couple of days to recharge it and then set up a few auto votes so as painful as it is I probably won't be voting for a couple of days.
Yes, It's always a problem isn't it... I'm in slightly better shape but I have that new challenge coming up on Friday. I'd like to be all charged up by then. Look at us worrying about $0.01. wow...
haha! just don't try talking to someone outside of Steemit about our big voting power of one or two cents! lol. It IS totally insane but once the prices go back up and steemit lasts that long then we could actually be building a good retirement fund. But it's insane to put so much time into a gamble.
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Ohhhh, no! despite the many of these wonderful scarves and shawls, I will not go there. You told such terrible things about that place. Prague also has a very narrow street. to go to such places you need to watch your figure :)))))