Mel Yip | Before it was a Museum: Stories from the Wing Sang Building

The School Room

Though museums typically house pieces of history, rarely are museums themselves housed within historic buildings. The Chinese Canadian Museum is a unique exception to this with its location inside the Wing Sang Building, the oldest brick building in Vancouver Chinatown and a heritage building listed on the Canadian Register of Historic Places. On this episode, join host Dr. Melissa Karmen Lee as she chats with Mel Yip— grandson of the man who established the Wing Sang Building and resided in the building with his extensive family, Yip Sang — and reminisce on his own memories of growing up surrounded by floors of family members in what he calls “a community within a community” to learn about some of the traditions held by this unique Chinese Canadian family.

Want to learn more about the historic Wing Sang Building? The Chinese Canadian Museum offers special guided tours every month that give participants exclusive access to additional spaces inside and outside the building. For more information, visit https://www.chinesecanadianmuseum.ca/programs/wing-sang-building-tour.
To learn more about the Chinese Canadian Museum and book tickets, visit https://www.chinesecanadianmuseum.ca/.