Aberdeen Centre at Chinese New Year

Aberdeen Centre is a popular mall in Richmond with a distinctly Asian flavour. It has over 150 stores and is especially lively around Chinese New Year.

See below for information on the mall’s annual Chinese New Year celebrations, and then even further below for general details about the mall itself.

CHINESE NEW YEAR AT THE MALL

In 2021 February 12th marks the first day of the Year of the Ox. Ordinarily, in years when there isn’t a pandemic, celebrations featuring live entertainment happen at the mall during Chinese New Year. This year, however, because of COVID-19, there is no large formal event. The place will still be nicely decorated, between January 15th and February 28th, for shoppers to enjoy at their leisure.

About Aberdeen Centre

Aberdeen Centre is a fairly large mall with over 150 stores including Japanese department store Daiso, more than one ginseng store, and a large number of Chinese and other Asian boutiques and specialty stores.

Typical stores include ones with names like Ginseng World, Luk Fook Jewellery, Osaka Optical, Pinku Japan The Store, Taiwan Kwong Leung Hin Dried Food, and Ten Fu Tea & Ginseng. Also, an especially popular store with children is Candyland! It’s a fairly popular mall with all kinds of interesting, exotic and Asian stores.

Where is Aberdeen Centre?

Aberdeen Centre is conveniently located at 4151 Hazelbridge Way in Richmond right by the Aberdeen SkyTrain Station which is just a 25-minute trip from downtown Vancouver along the Canada Line.

Aberdeen Mall Hours

Unlike most other shopping malls, Aberdeen Centre is open 365 days a year. Its regular hours are the following (as of early 2021):

11:00 am until 7:00 pm Monday to Saturday.
11:00 am until 6:00 pm Sunday.

Aberdeen Mall at Chinese New Year

Having lots of Asian stores and being popular with Chinese Vancouverites, Aberdeen Mall is understandably a great place to celebrate Chinese New Year.

Below are some of the festive activities that took place over the January 18th until January 26th 2020 Chinese New Year season. 2022 details will likely be similar (assuming COVID-19 is under control by then).

January 18th to January 26th, 2020

Every day during regular mall opening hours the Chinese New Year Flower & Gift Fair took place at various locations throughout the mall. The flowers were available to admire and purchase all week.

Friday, January 24th, 2020

“Countdown to Chinese New Year” was the New Year’s Eve celebratory event at Aberdeen Mall which took place in 2020 on Friday, January 24, from 8:30 pm until 12:10 am. It was a free event each year that included live entertainment in the Central Atrium.

The activity schedule for 2020 was the following:

Pre-Countdown Stage Show – from 8:30 pm to 10:00 pm.
Personal Blessings from the Chinese God of Fortune – at 10:30 pm.
Live Countdown with Fairchild Television – from 10:30 pm to 12:10 am.
Chinese New Year Flower & Gift Fair – takes place all day from January 18th until January 26th (with extended hours today).

Saturday, January 25th, 2020

Chinese New Year celebrations continued on the Saturday, which was the official Chinese New Year’s Day. Here’s what happened at Aberdeen Mall:

Golden Dragon and Lion Dance – the traditional ceremony went from store to store offering New Year’s blessings starting in the outdoor courtyard at 11:00 am.
Chinese New Year Flower & Gift Fair – took place all day from January 18th until January 26th.

Other cultural activities taking place at the mall on the Saturday in 2020 included the following:

BC Chinese Music Association – performances from 1:45 until 2:45 pm in the Atrium.
Colours of Dance Academy – performances from 3:30 until 4:30 pm in the Atrium.
Chinese New Year Flower & Gift Fair – took place all day from January 18th until January 26th.

Sunday, January 26th, 2020

The festivities and entertainment continued on the Sunday at the following times:

Colors of Dance Academy – performances from 1:00 until 2:00 pm in the Atrium.
Cindy Yang Dance Academy – performances from 3:15 until 4:15 pm in the Atrium.
Chinese New Year Flower & Gift Fair – took place all day from January 18th until January 26th.

For more information on the mall’s Chinese New Year activities, check out the Aberdeen Centre’s Events Page or click 2020 New Year Details.

For a list of other Chinese New Year events in other parts of town, see Chinese New Year in Metro Vancouver.