29-Day Self-Drive Guide to 2 Cities in Western Canada + 5 Cities in Eastern Canada in Autumn

We booked the flight tickets 2 months in advance. Although the Canada Visa Application Center does not require proof of flight and accommodation in the documents, we finalized the itinerary in advance just to be safe. Originally, Canada, like the USA, could issue 10-year visas to Chinese tourists, but due to the strained Sino-Canadian relations, the visa we actually received was only valid for 2 years. However, that was sufficient; we did not plan to visit Canada a second time. The world is big enough for us to travel.

Originally, seeing autumn leaves was the purpose of this trip, but due to global warming, the peak of fall foliage in the east has been delayed to after mid-October. Since there are almost no broadleaf forests in Vancouver and Calgary in the west, and snow begins to fall in Calgary in early October, the western part of the trip was successful, but we didn't see the red leaves covering the mountains in the east—a slight regret.

In previous trips, we always stayed in hotels. This time, we booked rooms on Airbnb. The reason we hadn't chosen homestays before was that we didn't know the trick. For homestays, choose a single bedroom with shared kitchen and living room, which costs around CNY 400-500 per night. Don't choose the entire place or a standalone house.

D1: Friday, September 6, Incheon, South Korea, rain; Vancouver sunny, 23-15°C, wind 2-3.

Beijing Capital Airport T2, 13:30 Korean Air B777-300 large aircraft, departing at 14:00.

After a 2-hour flight, arrived at Incheon Airport in Seoul. The airport is actually on the west coast of South Korea, in Incheon, not in Seoul. Waited for 2 hours, doors closed at 18:50.

Took B787-8 to Vancouver, arrived local time September 6, 13:10, flight duration 9 hours. Customs took 1 hour: queuing, using machines to self-select entry information, taking photos, scanning 4 fingerprints, comparing with the fingerprints submitted when applying for the visa in Beijing.

Outside the airport. Bought a bus ticket for T2 (including zones 1+2) at CAD 9.25/person, took Train then Bus.

Arrived at the booked Airbnb at 16:00, a standalone house.

The bedroom had two double beds, a dining room, and a kitchen; we could cook our own meals.

The residential area consisted of 1-2 story standalone houses, likely a middle-class neighborhood. A 950m walk away was a T&T Supermarket (Chinese supermarket).

Purchased food: wild red grouper, salmon, beef, vegetables, fruit, milk, yogurt, etc., spending CAD 38. Vancouver has 30% Chinese residents; the supermarket products had bilingual labels: English and Chinese. Two female cashiers: one spoke Cantonese, one spoke Mandarin. Temperature 23-14°C, wore a short-sleeved T-shirt, felt a bit hot and sweaty.

D2: Saturday, September 7, Vancouver cloudy, 21-15°C, wind 2-3.

Woke up at 8:00, left at 9:00, took Bus 19 at 9:30.

After 50 minutes, arrived at the entrance of Stanley Park at 10:20. Bus driver only accepted coins and chip-enabled credit cards, not banknotes or non-chip credit cards. Ticket valid for 90 minutes from purchase, CAD 3/person, with multiple transfers allowed.

The park was free. At the entrance, saw the statue of Mr. Stanley.

Headed east along the east side of the island, passed Totem Poles. Bought a metal fridge magnet with a Canadian banknote pattern at a gift shop for CAD 3.5/person + 12% tax. Went north, walked counterclockwise, passed Lion Gate Bridge at the northern end.

Reached Third Beach on the west side, thought it was a man-made beach; left the seaside of the island, headed inland to the Aquarium (ticket: adult 18-65 CAD 38/person, age >65 CAD 30/person). Along the way, saw Redwood trees with a diameter of about 4-5m. Based on a height-to-diameter ratio of 20, estimated tree height at 80-100m. Missed the Hollow Tree, lost the chance to check in. The path had separate lanes for pedestrians and cyclists; many people rented bicycles or rollerblades.

Main tree species on the island: Redwood.

Redwood: grows in subtropical forests similar to yew trees; trunk diameter is huge; like other conifers, it has leaves or needles. Leaves are scale-like, very small, with blunt teeth, closely attached to the stem. Mature trees reach 60-100 meters in height, have very long lifespans—many are 2000-3000 years old, and some have lived for 5000 years. Redwoods grow fast, have high survival rates, thick bark, and strong resistance to pests and fire. Thus, they are recognized as one of the most valuable tree species in the world.

Lion Gate Bridge.

Rare colorful leaves.

Left Stanley Park. Saw a bicycle rental shop on Robson Street downtown outside the park. Rental prices: CAD 11 per hour, CAD 32 for 3-6 hours, CAD 42 per day. Left Stanley Park at 15:20, spent 5 hours inside. Walked southeast along the main commercial street Robson Street in downtown Vancouver.

At the north end of the street, saw a Japanese (?) Chinese noodle shop, had the most difficult bowl of noodles ever: salty lean pork and bean sprout soup noodles, CAD 10.5 per bowl + 15% tip.

Passed Queen Elizabeth Theatre.

Arrived at the gate of China Town's Millennium Gate.

Checked in at the entrance of Sun Yat-sen Park at 17:40. Took Bus 19 back to the homestay in 50 minutes.

Several travel notes previously posted suddenly required revision; revised multiple times, some still couldn't pass; then disappeared inexplicably. So, I lost interest in continuing. End here, 2020-5-25.