Categories: Lifestyle

The narrowest street in Canada is in BC & it has a storied past

Photo via Shutterstock

Ready to explore more of our province’s historic sites this season? BC has plenty to uncover, including the narrowest street in the country, Fan Tan Alley.

Situated in one of the oldest surviving Chinatowns in North America, Fan Tan Alley measures three to six feet wide and 240 feet long, according to Victoria’s Chinatown. Running between Fisgard Street and Pandora Avenue (formerly Cormorant Street), the alley came to be between 1885 and 1920 as landowners began constructing buildings on Fisgard and Cormorant.

At the time, it was a hotspot for opium factories and gambling, until the drug finally became illegal to use and sell in Canada in 1908.

Today, the former gambling remains the narrowest street in Canada (and the narrowest commercial street in North America).

Visitors can peruse a myriad of local shops and historic displays, ranging from art galleries to gift shops.

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Photo via Shutterstock

What’s more, the alley has had its fair share of air time on the silver screen – because nothing raises the stakes for a “Hollywood action flick” like a car chase down the narrowest street in the country.

And that’s exactly what you’ll find in the 1990 film Bird on a Wire – which filmed its iconic motorcycle chase down the famed alley.

So there you have it, explorers. If you’re in BC this spring or summer, consider adding Fan Tan Alley to your road trip itinerary!