University of Waterloo Students Recreate Vanished Toronto Chinatown Businesses
Fourteen architecture students from the University of Waterloo have created detailed miniature models of seven former Toronto Chinatown businesses and restaurants, using archival records and oral histories to preserve undocumented history.
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According to the South China Morning Post, Linda Zhang is engaged in efforts to increase public awareness regarding Toronto's Chinatown through activities such as exhibitions, writing workshops, and ceramics.
Among the recreated establishments are Sai Woo, a two-story restaurant in Toronto's Chinatown that opened in the 1950s, which featured a traditional Chinese banquet hall on its upper level. This space, intended for wedding celebrations, included a canopy supported by two columns, one adorned with a golden dragon and the other with a phoenix, and round banquet tables topped with Lazy Susans.
Another business mentioned is Charlie’s Meat and Seafood, a butcher shop with white tiles that commenced operations in 1971 within Chinatown. Inside this shop, there was a glass display case containing meat cuts, and on the counter, a weighing scale and a roll of plastic bags were positioned for patrons.
These two examples represent seven cherished Chinatown businesses and restaurants that were meticulously recreated by 14 architecture students from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. The students constructed these detailed miniature models by utilizing archival documentation and oral histories provided by community elders.
The models serve to address gaps in the history of Toronto's Chinatown, much of which lacks documentation. They are currently on display at the City of Toronto Archives until February 2027, as part of an exhibition titled “Let’s Build a Collective Memory of Chinatown!”.
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