Vancouver’s a fun place to shop because it’s international and cosmopolitan, but hasn’t lost its funky, fun-loving edge. There are stores galore, and most of them are not in malls. Blessed with a climate that seems semitropical in comparison to the rest of Canada, Vancouverites never really developed a taste for indoor malls (though there is one — Pacific Centre — right downtown).

Sadly, the short-lived Chinatown Night Market is no more—it never did really catch on with locals—but there are two popular ones in Richmond: the Richmond Night Market and the International Summer Night Market. These busy markets are loads of fun, and have the feel of a summer festival, only with amazing food. They run mid-May through Mid-September, open Fridays through Sundays 7pm to midnight (the International Summer Night Market closes an hour earlier on Sun).