29-Day Canada West Coast 2-City Road Trip + East Coast 5-City Free Travel Guide in Autumn

We booked the plane tickets 2 months in advance. Although the Canada visa center documents do not require proof of flight and accommodation, to be safe, we still finalized the itinerary in advance. Originally, Canada, like the USA, could issue 10-year visas to Chinese tourists, but due to the tension in China-Canada relations, the actual visa we received was only valid for 2 years. However, that was enough; we do not plan to visit Canada a second time. The world is big enough for us to travel.

Originally, seeing red leaves was the purpose of this trip, but due to global warming, the peak time for red leaves in the east has been delayed to after mid-October. Since Vancouver and Calgary in the west have basically no broadleaf forests, and Calgary even starts to snow in early October, the western part of this trip was perfect, but in the east we did not see the mountains covered in red, which was a bit regretful.

In previous trips, we always stayed in hotels. This time we booked rooms on Airbnb. The reason we didn't choose homestays before was that we hadn't found the trick. For homestays, choose a single bedroom with shared kitchen and living room; the price is around CNY 400-500 per night. Do not choose the entire house or a standalone type.

D1: Friday, September 6, Seoul, Inchon - rain; Vancouver sunny, 23-15°C, wind 2-3 degrees.

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

Flew for 2 hours to arrive at Seoul's Inchon Airport. The airport is actually on the west coast of South Korea, in Inchon, not Seoul. Waited 2 hours, doors closed at 18:50.

Took B787-8 to Vancouver, arrived local time September 6, 13:10, flight duration 9 hours. It took 1 hour to clear customs; waited in line, used the machine to self-enter my entry information, took a photo, scanned 4 fingers, and compared with the fingerprints left when applying for the visa in Beijing.

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

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

The bedroom has two double beds, a dining room and kitchen, can cook our own meals.

The residential area consists of 1-2 storey standalone houses, likely a middle-class neighborhood. Walk 950m to a T&T Supermarket (Da Tong Hua) grocery store.

Bought food: wild red grouper, salmon, beef, vegetables, fruits, milk, yogurt, etc., spent CAD 38. Vancouver is 30% Chinese, so supermarket items are bilingual in English and Chinese. Two female cashiers, one spoke Cantonese, one spoke Mandarin. Temperature 23-14°C, wore a short-sleeve T-shirt, a bit hot, sweating.

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

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

50 minutes later, arrived at the entrance of Stanley Park at 10:20. The bus driver only accepted coins and chip-enabled credit cards for tickets, not banknotes or non-chip credit cards. The ticket costs CAD 3/p and is valid for multiple transfers within 90 minutes from the time of purchase.

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

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

Reached Third Beach on the west side of the island, thought it was a man-made beach. Left the seaside of the island and headed inland to the Aquarium (adult ticket 18-65 CAD 38/p, age >65 CAD 30/p). Along the way, saw a redwood tree about 4-5m in diameter. Estimating by a height-to-diameter ratio of 20, the tree is about 80-100m tall. Missed the Hollow Tree, missed the opportunity to check in. There are separate walking paths and bike lanes; many people rented bicycles or rollerblades.

Main tree species on the island: Redwood.

Redwood: Grows in subtropical forests similar to dawn redwood, with huge trunk diameters. Like other conifers, it has leaves or needles. Leaves are scaly, very small, with blunt teeth, tightly attached to the stem. Mature trees reach 60-100 meters in height, have a very long lifespan, many are 2000-3000 years old, and some even 5000 years old. Redwoods grow quickly, have high survival rates, and thick bark that provides strong resistance to pests and fire. So it is 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 St. in downtown outside the park. Rental prices: CAD 11/1h, CAD 32/3-6h, CAD 42/day. Left Stanley Park at 15:20, spent 5 hours. Walked along the main commercial street Robson St. southeast in Vancouver Downtown.

At the north end of the street, saw a Japanese (?) Chinese noodle shop, ate the worst bowl of noodle soup with salty lean pork and bean sprouts in my life, CAD 10.5/bowl + 15% tip.

Passed Queen Elizabeth Theatre.

Arrived at the Millennium Gate in Chinatown.

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

Several travel notes had already been posted, but suddenly a revision was requested; after several modifications, some still couldn't pass; then they disappeared inexplicably. So I lost interest in continuing. Stop here, 2020-5-25.