Hundreds of volunteers help cleaning up Vancouver’s Chinatown, they spend their Saturday morning collecting garbage and painting over unwanted graffiti in an effort to clean-up the cherished neighbourhood.

According to Jordan Eng, the president of the Chinatown Business Improvement Association, more than 200 people from across the city took part in this year’s clean-up, which is the largest turnout he’s seen.

“To see people from all over the city come down to Chinatown, it’s just heartwarming,” he said.

Chinatown has increasingly been a target of racist graffiti and vandalism over the last few years.

A few weeks ago, around a dozen volunteers helped restore a mural on the side of the Liang You Bookstore on East Georgia Street, which was defaced in late March.

In January, the exterior walls of Dr. Sun Yat Sen Classical Chinese Garden were spray painted, while windows at the nearby Chinese Cultural Centre were smashed. Jordan Eng, president of Vancouver Chinatown Business Improvement Area Society, says although the neighbourhood has struggled in recent years, he has noticed more families visiting the area as COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted.

“It’s really good to see the streets starting to fill up,” Eng said. Eng says the big turnout for the clean-up event shows people care about the neighbourhood. The policing centre is launching a new pilot project in June with the aim of cleaning up graffiti in Chinatown.

He hopes there will be more volunteers coming down to the neighbourhood to help keep it clean.