On the Menu: Chinese Food with a Side of Cultural Connections

For VIU Anthropology Professor Dr. Imogene Lim, a menu isn’t just a list of food choices – it’s also a way of connecting with and studying society.                                   

Lim has been collecting Chinese restaurant menus for decades and now has hundreds – dating from the 1920s to the present – from across Canada, the United States and the world, along with related items such as fortune cookie sayings, chopstick wrappers and takeout containers.

Numerous menus were part of the Museum of Vancouver’s All Together Now exhibit (June 2016 - March 2017), which highlighted “rare, unconventional and awe-inspiring objects” from 20 collectors. As well, Lim’s menus and research were the focus of her presentation last October at the Chinese Food and Culture in Local and Global Perspectives conference in Guangzhou, China.    

“I think it’s important information,” she says. “The menus represent a particular point in time and place. For Vancouver’s Chinatown, they illustrate a vibrant, happening space which drew people from the larger community.”

*This article originally appeared in the Winter 2017/18 edition of VIU Magazine. Check out more stories on the VIU Magazine webpage.