HISTORICAL CHINATOWN TOURS

Wonderful guide! Amazing time in Chinatown! If you are looking for an exciting non-touristic activity, don’t hesitate to book a Chinatown tour with the Chinatown girl AKA Judy Lam Maxwell. You won’t be disappointed. You’ll have a personal visit of Chinatown. You’ll not only learn about the historical of this area, but you’ll also have the privilege to enter the buildings and meet the Chinatown people. You can consider your experience like an underground one! Needless to say, your guide is brilliant, super nice and knows almost everything about the history of many Chinatowns around the world. I've had a fantastic 2 hours with Judy, Thank you so much!

My mother-in-law and I had a dumpling-making class with Judy and had an absolutely grand time. Judy was so personable and knowledgeable about the rich cultural history of Chinatown. While we prepped our ingredients, she told us all about local cultural traditions, her family's history in Vancouver, about alternative gluten-free ingredients, and even great knife suggestions from local vendors. Judy taught us an easy and quick method for wrapping the dumplings, and by the end of it - we were dumpling pros! After many laughs and stories, we had a pile of delicious dumplings as a reward for all the hard work we had put in. Judy is such a fun and vibrant spirit and makes the experience entertaining and lively. If you're looking for a lovely night filled with learning new talents and hearing great stories, make sure you book a class with Judy! You won't regret it.

Outstanding Chinatown Tour for Staycation or Visitors alike! I had a wonderful Saturday afternoon with friends taking part in a tour of our very own backyard that is too often overlooked and taken for granted. Judy Lam Maxwell of Historical Chinatown Tours has a true gift as a story teller and "Keeper of Heritage Knowledge" about the rich background of Vancouver's Chinatown. We were privilaged to visit several of the oldest buildings in Chinatown that most people walk past everyday. Judy has the relationships to gain access to several of the Clan Association buildings that date back to the 1800s and house community activities for older members of the Chinese Community along with annual rituals of Chinese New Years and the plans for future generations. The photos show one of the oldest buildings in Vancouver renovated to include business and an art studio on the main floor, the Sai Woo restaurant in the main floor of a Clan Association building, a memorial room in another Clan Association building and the memorable Sam Kee Building (World's skinniest building) with it's spectacular light and music show courtesy of Jack Chow Insurance. Judy's colleague, Steve Wong of Modernize Tailors was a wonderful addition with his detailed knowledge of the history of the Chinese Tailor industry in Vancouver. We invited Judy to a Dim Sum lunch following the tour to ask more questions and place the tour in context of current trends in rapidly growing Vancouver. In a time of densification pressures, Vancouver residents need to be more aware of what we have, and what we may lose, visitors today may be seeing the last years of the original character of Chinatown. Visited November 2016

I was impressed with the access to the Association and Freemason buildings for a behind the scenes look. The history is evident in the structures and furnishings as well as the elaborate décor. Judy has incorporated several guest speakers from the Chinatown community who are very informative about how things have become as they are today. They are readily available for questions and the direct contact with the community members themselves is an added highlight I have never experienced on a tour before.

Getting to see Vancouver’s Chinatown through Judy Lam Maxwell’s eyes was such an enriching, enlightening, and fun experience. From architecture to living elders, her insight and access is peerless. Her knowledge (which is so vast that that is an understatement) and guidance really helped to contextualize the little Chinese-Canadian history that I knew, but Judy’s tour taught me so such more. Any questions that I asked, not once did Judy make me feel dumb for asking. I gained a greater understanding of the plights and successes the Chinese Diaspora has had, and I could not be more grateful. Judy’s tour is phenomenal and I couldn’t have chosen a better way to kick off my first trip to Vancouver.

Judy is an engaging guide. She is very knowledgeable about Vancouver's Chinatown and the Chinatowns in other cities. She provided insights into the history of the Chinese community and its current culture. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with her!

We did the tour as a surprise birthday gift for my wife, with friends and our adult daughter. We all loved Judy's telling of the history, architecture, and current state of affairs of Vancouver's Chinatown. We saw and learned so many interesting things about Vancouver's Chinatown that we never would have known without someone like Judy who is so connected in so many ways to Vancouver's Chinatown. We also loved how Judy's storytelling connected to Chinatowns around the world and the indigneous and Sikh experiences of immigration to Canada. Also, we all loved the dim sum choices by Judy. The tour and Judy were awesome! I will be recommending the tour to all my friends.

I bought a dumpling making class and tour as a birthday gift back in November. My fiance and I ended up joining our friends to make it a double date and we are so glad we did! Judy was very helpful and responsive when I inquired about booking, and was flexible with times and ingredient planning (we needed kosher dumpling filling) and created a lovely certificate that I was able to put in a birthday card. Judy was also so knowledgeable about the history of Chinatown, and kept us moving so we stayed warm until we were back at our dumpling making location, and the dumplings were SPECTACULAR. I would highly recommend the tour to locals who want to learn more about the city they live in, to folks visiting, and to anyone who enjoys a good dumpling.