The Phoenix City is as bright as a rainbow: A Rocky Mountain Tour - Part 4 of Victoria City

The Phoenix City is as bright as a rainbow: The Rocky Mountain Tour - Part 4 of Victoria City It's a cold morning in Vancouver, and the station wagon driven by Hua Ge has been parked in front of the Jingsi Hall. We...

Phoenix City is like a rainbow: Rocky Mountain Tour Part 4 Victoria City It was a cold morning in Vancouver. The station wagon driven by Hua Ge had been parked in front of the Jing Si Hall. We, a group of travelers from all over the world, had breakfast at the hotel, put on our cold clothes, and walked over to board the bus. The tour guide Lao Xie counted enough people and said "Morning!" to everyone, starting the third day of the journey. The tour bus drove straight to Fisherman's Wharf in Victoria Harbor to wait for the ferry to Vancouver Island. All passengers had to get off the bus and board the boat on foot. The sea breeze blew in their faces, making them feel even colder. This ferry is huge and I have never seen it before. The lower two floors of the cabin can accommodate a large number of vehicles, and the upper five floors are passenger seats. The cabin is fully equipped, including restaurants and tea seats. In the past, I often took ferries to cross rivers in Vietnam. Since the southern part of Vietnam is the lower reaches of the Mekong River and branches to the Mekong River to the sea, there are many rivers. In the past, there was no ability to build bridges. For example, crossing the river in Saigon to Thu Thiem, crossing the Tien Giang in My Tho to go to Anhui, and crossing the Hou River in Vinh Long to go to Can Tho Pang had to rely on ferries. At that time, I thought those ferries were very large, but when I take a boat today, I can see how small they were before in comparison. The tour guide explained that we spent the whole day visiting the island. The city of Victoria on the island is the capital of British Columbia. Many people mistakenly think that this place is called Victoria Island. In fact, this is a mistake. This place is called Vancouver Island. It is the largest island on the west coast of North America. It is about the same size as Taiwan Island, but has a population of only 800,000. The government originally planned to build a bridge to make transportation more convenient, but it was opposed by residents who were unwilling to attract too many people and ruin their peaceful life. When traveling to the island, I found that there are few people here, the trees are green, the flowers are colorful, the world is peaceful, and the buildings are full of European flavor. It seems that this kind of environment is the most suitable for retired people to live. However, if you like activities and liveliness, you will not be satisfied here. Looking left and right along the way, you can see sparse houses. After passing several towns, the shops are quiet and there are no entertainment venues. The tour group first visited the famous ButChart Gardens. This garden is vast and has unique scenery. It is said to be more than a hundred years old. There is a square in front of the garden. The tour guide bought entrance tickets for us and distributed a map guide printed in Chinese. I flipped through it briefly and saw that the translation was "Butchart" instead of "Bao Cui". The garden supplies were originally purchased by a woman named Jenny. Privately owned by Butchart, she loved planting flowers. Throughout her life, she continued to skillfully combine various exotic flowers and plants, organize the layout, and build a sunken garden, a rose garden, and a Mediterranean garden. She also named the manor "Welcome" to welcome guests from all over the world to visit. Now it has become a world-famous garden with a homonym of "ButChart". The square is the starting point and the end point of the tour. There are coffee shops, gift shops, seed sales, information desks and restrooms nearby. Visitors can go around and watch, and they can buy items or take a rest at will. My Queen loves flowers the most. When I stepped into this huge manor, my heart was filled with joy. I watched the world of flowers and admired the blooming flowers. I had the most time to visit Beocui Gardens. Everyone was satisfied, happy and full of praise. The next stop on the itinerary is to stop at the starting point of zero, which is just a small park near the coast in Victoria City. A horizontal monument with "Mile 0" written on it is built to indicate that this is the starting point of the west side of Canada's Highway 1. Not far from the park, there is a bronze statue commemorating the Broken Foot, which is engraved with Terry Fox and his deeds. The tour guide briefly explained that this young Canadian had a tumor in his right leg that required amputation. Later, he ran long distances on one leg to raise money for cancer research. He died at the age of 22. Then we visited the Victoria City Hall building. The architecture of this building is a bit like the style of the British and French countries, which is the so-called European style. The building is spacious and majestic inside, with a solemn momentum. The glass installation patterns on the doors and windows are beautiful. The kind of art equipment you often see in famous churches. The location of the city hall is beautiful. You can see the sea and ships on the opposite side. There is a park and grass layout nearby. Turning around, there is a majestic hotel. The trees planted in front are trimmed like potted plants. The climate is cool and the atmosphere is peaceful. Lunch is going to Chinatown again, ah! It seems that every city in Canada has a Chinatown, which is really the glory of the Chinese people. I thought that the Chinese would not come to Vancouver Island if it left the mainland, but the facts were not in line with my expectation. It turns out that this island also has a Chinatown, and it is the oldest Chinatown in Canada. The ancestors came from San Francisco to find another mining site. Later, they also worked as laborers in the construction of railways. They were miserable. Now, there are still vague traces of the old and it has become a tourist attraction. It retains the Chinese color, has Chinese shops and food, and welcomes guests. We Chinese are especially filled with a sense of intimacy from our compatriots. After sightseeing the scenic spots in Victoria, the day's journey ended. In the afternoon, we said goodbye to Vancouver Island and took the ferry back to the mainland. On the way back to the hotel, we passed by the Red Crane Restaurant for dinner. The Red Crane Restaurant has a good reputation in Vancouver. I heard that the Canadian Chinese Writers Association once held a Spring Festival Gala here. I was somewhat impressed. It was a pleasure to taste the delicious food here!