关于Victoria Island的历史

[维多利亚]

摘自<<异域风情丛书--加拿大>>

...印地安人一直平静祥和地居住在这里, 甚至在1778年库克船长"发现"了这里以后. 苏格兰人西蒙.弗雷泽(1776-1862)把这里当成他的家, 倾注毕生心血开发富饶的British Columbia. 他把弗雷泽河修建为皮毛买卖的重要航道.


下面我也不摘了, 简述一下.

19世纪, British Columbia的皮毛贸易是个大生意. 美国人也虎视眈眈这块大肥肉. 之后呢, 还是英国人抢先成立了立法院. 第一届立法院就是Vancouver Island上的英国人选出来的. 接着英国女皇把这里命名为British Columbia. 1856年, 有印地安人在坎卢普斯附近的北汤普森发现了黄金. 之后就开始了一场淘金热. 我也听说那时候已经有了华人, 住在Victoria China Town.

之后呢, 黄金很快就被淘光了. British Columbia就开始发展其他的经济, 如开发林木资源等. 直到现在, 这些还是British Columbia的主要经济形式.

Victoria呢, 是British Columbia的第一座城市. 虽然离美国比较近, 这里却比温哥华更英国化. 如果来过Victoria, 就会发现这里还保留着有英国建筑特色的The Parliament Building和The Empress Hotel (女王饭店). 女王饭店据说在1987年人们曾花费4500万美元进行了修缮. 不知道大家对其中的细节感不感兴趣. 说是"在那20年以前已经将供电供暖系统更换一新, 并铺上总长6公里的新地毯, 同时饭店还为制作数百个床罩订购了特种织布, 并且对新房添置的上千件新(的古董)家具进行时代真伪的检测. 现在总共有480间这样的房间. 新的茶点师持有白金汉宫的推荐信. 茶点的制作过程有个很庄重的名称"茶杯行动". 女王饭店的下午茶艺已达到了炉火纯青的程度. 根据一为作家的描述, 这家饭店经常接到来自世界各地的有关如何泡茶以及上茶的询问. 客人们若想一探究竟, 必须预订座位." (摘自<<异域风情丛书--加拿大>>


附上我照的两张Victoria China Town的照片. 第一张是重现的当时华人商铺. 好象在卖赌博用的筹码什么的. 第二张照片上是狭长的小巷. 据说当时华人聚集在一起就好赌, 但是又怕被警察抓, 于是派一个兄弟在小巷前边守着, 警察来了就赶快通知里面的弟兄. 小巷很窄, 等他们到了里面的时候, 人早从后面跑光了. 所以警察很多时候都抓不到他们. (我听这故事的时候尽纳闷, 怎么中国人好赌的历史也这么悠久啊. :P)

[维多利亚]

自己编辑太累, 还是抄吧.

这里是英文版的, 写得比我的好多了:
Victoria Biography
Victoria is Western Canada's oldest city. The City began in 1843 as a Hudson Bay Company trading post, named in honour of Queen Victoria.

With the Fraser Valley gold rush in 1858, Victoria grew rapidly as the main port of entry to the Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia. When the colonies combined, the City became the colonial capital and was established as the provincial capital when British Columbia joined the Canadian Confederation in 1871.

For most of the nineteenth century, Victoria remained the largest city in British Columbia and was the foremost in trade and commerce. However, with construction of the Transcontinental railway, Vancouver, as its terminus, emerged as the major west coast port and the largest city in British Columbia.

In the twentieth century, Victoria evolved primarily as a city of government, retirement and tourism. The City remains, however, Canada's western naval base and home to a major fishing fleet. Ship building and repair, as well as forest products and machine manufacturing industries, continue as significant sources of employment. Increasingly, the city is developing as a marine, forestry and agricultural research centre. The City is also noted for its fine educational institutions which include the University of Victoria, Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific (one of only six in the world operated by United World Colleges), and the recently opened Royal Roads University.

Today with an estimated regional population of 326,000, a moderate climate and scenic setting, Victoria has retained a very vital but comfortable quality of life. The City is proud of its British heritage, its fine homes and neighbourhoods, its historic and attractive downtown, the flowers and parks and, of course, the Inner Harbour with its vistas toward the famous Empress Hotel and the Parliament Buildings.

In a survey conducted by Conde Nast Traveller magazine, Victoria was judged to be one of the world's best cities, topping the list in the category of environment and ambience. In a cross-Canada survey, Victoria residents registered the greatest satisfaction with their city. This satisfaction and regard for the quality of life and environment is perhaps the most notable feature of Victoria today, and the challenge in its future.

--From http://www.city.victoria.bc.ca/business/about_his.shtml

[维多利亚]

这里有历史照片可看:
http://www.victorialodging.com/victoria/

[纵横四海]

英文不好,痛苦啊