Book Stores
Chinese-language bookshop on the upper level of Aberdeen Centre, carrying traditional-character titles alongside stationery and magazines. One of the few places in Metro Vancouver to browse a serious Chinese book selection in person.
Traditional characters or simplified is the distinction a casual browser would miss, and it decides whether a shop is useful to a particular reader at all. Hong Kong and Taiwan publish in traditional characters, the mainland in simplified, and readers generally hold a firm preference shaped by where they learned to read. S U P Bookstore carries traditional-character titles on the upper level of Aberdeen Centre, alongside stationery and magazines.
That makes it one of the few places in Metro Vancouver to browse a serious Chinese book selection in person rather than ordering blind from overseas. For a parent trying to keep a child reading Chinese rather than only speaking it, handing over a physical book the kid chose off a shelf works far better than any download has managed. The choosing is the part that does the work.
Aberdeen Centre anchors the Golden Village, on Hazelbridge Way with a Canada Line station at its door, and the upper level is where the smaller specialist tenants sit, above the food court traffic. It rewards a slow walk. Browsing is the entire point of a shop of this kind, so it deserves more time than an errand does, and a weekday afternoon is the window to take. The mall on a weekend is not a browsing environment by any definition, and a bookshop is the last place in the building where being jostled is compatible with the activity.
In the Golden Village neighbourhood of Richmond.
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Other book stores and nearby businesses in the Richmond directory.
Small independent bookshop in the middle of Steveston Village selling new and used titles, with a genuine specialty in British Columbia history, local maritime subjects and regional writing. Worth a browse if you are researching the fishing village's past.
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Steveston bookshop and cafe in one room, stocking mostly secondhand titles with some new releases. You can trade in your own books for store credit, and the espresso bar means people settle in rather than browse and leave. Separate kids' and adult sections.
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Busy second-floor salon inside Aberdeen Centre with thousands of reviews behind it. Strong on Asian hair texture, precision cuts and bleach work, and easy to pair with a mall trip since you are already parked underneath.
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The Aberdeen Centre branch of a Vancouver-area salon group, open seven days a week from late morning to early evening. Cutting, coloring and styling for a mostly Cantonese- and Mandarin-speaking clientele, with walk-in timing that suits mall hours.
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Nail and lash salon inside Aberdeen Centre, open daily 10am to 7pm. Gel manicures, spa pedicures, custom nail art and eyelash extensions, with online booking and free mall parking underneath the building.
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An ice cream counter upstairs in Aberdeen Centre, listed in Tourism Richmond's guide to the city's frozen desserts. Being inside the mall makes it an easy stop mid-shop, and it draws the Golden Village crowd rather than Steveston day-trippers.
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