How 168 Magazine is Sculpting the Next Generation
The print publication confronts Chinatown’s gentrification, development, and how to preserve the culture.
168 Magazine Issue 1 cover
There are over 50 Chinatowns in the United States and Canada. Many, if not all of them, are facing gentrification and displacement, inflation, and the loss of cultural preservation in communities they call home. To combat this, writer, model, and actor Blake Abbie spearheaded 168 Magazine, a community-driven print magazine that brings creative visions to life, after his residency at Vancouver’s Chinatown Storytelling Centre,
The magazine focuses on local youth, elders, and marginalized communities, especially those who are Chinese. This year is the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Exclusion Act in Canada, and founding editor Abbie and managing editor Jolie Zhou kept this in mind when creating the magazine's first issue. The goal of 168 Magazine is to help acknowledge the past, preserve the present, and thrive in the next 100 years. They’re achieving this with the help of editors Felicia Jiang, Carol Wang, Madelyn Wu, and Sofia Lau.
168 is a lucky number in Chinese culture and also sounds like the phrase “one path to prosperity (一路發). The magazine’s name is inspired by the Chinatown Storytelling Centre’s address in Vancouver — 168 E. Pender Street. Abbie and Zhou sat down with 1202 MAGAZINE to discuss the magazine’s impact and how they hope to inspire artists and revive the effect of print media.
What is 168 Magazine, and what inspired the name?
Zhou — 168 Magazine is a youth-led magazine. We took a lot of time just to come up with the name. But when we discovered the street address for the Chinatown Storytelling Centre was 168, which stands for “One Road to Prosperity,” we thought it would be perfect.
Abbie — It was published in association with the Chinatown Storytelling Centre, which is a museum in Chinatown of Vancouver, which is the second largest Chinatown in the world after San Francisco. The CSC is a space where they look at the history of the community and the impact of Chinatown in Vancouver in a greater sense: not only the history but also looking at the current life. A lot of the time, institutions in ‘historical neighborhoods’ look backward at how we can preserve the past.
What inspired you to create the magazine?
Zhou — It was created with the 100th anniversary of the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Exclusion Act in mind. We hope the magazine can make our readers reflect on the past and carry the lessons we learned 100 years into the future with hope.
Abbie — I’ve grown up going in and out of Chinatown. I’ve been wanting to do projects in and around Chinatowns. I live in New York and spend a lot of time in Chinatown, so I wanted to find a way to do something there and also do something in Vancouver’s Chinatown. I live in Chinatown in Vancouver when I’m back home. I was talking to the artistic director re:Naissance Opera, Debi Wong, an artist I went to school with. We have a dream to find ways to be able to re-engage the community back in Chinatown in Vancouver.
Is the magazine only print, or is it also digital?
Zhou — It’s only print for now, but we plan to release a digital copy of this version. We’re also preparing to start a new issue, so we might release that as a digital print, too.
Abbie — Right now, it’s only print. We are a small skeleton team. We have a very small Instagram presence, but we will build that out. Print is important because there is something amazing about having an oversized publication. This is quite a large magazine format that you can’t get on digital. We wanted to be able to invade spaces, have the magazine in a coffee shop, in a bookstore, and places that you could just happen upon it. I think that’s less possible via the digital space. It was also a really interesting project for the kids to find ways to be able to engage in a paper product.
Who helped bring 168 Magazine to life?
Zhou — It was my team and I, which was initially 20ish members, but there were about four members that were actually really into it. I’m really thankful for them and Blake. The Chinatown Storytelling Centre and the re:Naissance Opera were also a part of this. As the managing editor, I was super passionate about it since I felt that this magazine was really connected to me. I wanted a big part in this magazine.
How do you directly relate to the purpose of the magazine?
Zhou — I’m an immigrant. I’m Chinese-Canadian. It means a lot for me to remember the history and my ancestors who paved the way for our Chinese Canadians. Since I was young, there were many stories my parents told me about Chinatown, its form of glory, and neon light. But when I actually went to Chinatown for the first time at seven, their descriptions were so far from reality. I feel like I have a role to make it so that it becomes graded again.
Abbie — It very much came from my brain. I’m excited to see how we can build.
Have you also visited New York City’s Chinatown and witnessed its gentrification?
Zhou — I’ve never been to New York, but I think it’s quite parallel in the sense that Chinatown is not really Chinatown anymore. The Chinese population is being gentrified. There’s a huge housing crisis and drug crisis down there. I think, at some point, the government gave up. Perhaps they’re still hoping to revitalize it.
Do you still frequent Vancouver’s Chinatown?
Zhou — To be fair, I don’t go a lot because of safety issues. I think it was really hard to get volunteers on this magazine to do projects in Chinatown. Kids and parents were so worried about safety. If you go on the news, you’ll see Chinatown’s worsening safety ratings.
Blake Abbie, Photo courtesy of 168 Magazine
How will 168 Magazine build a stronger community?
Zhou — The first step to building a community is recognizing that there is an issue and recognizing that there is still hope and change for youth who are really passionate about rebuilding the community.
Abbie — It’s about engaging new people, bringing people into the magazine, and bringing people into the space who are different; people who are not necessarily only white people or only Chinese, but bringing people who are white, Black, Brown, and people who might find Chinatown a bit, for a lack of a better term, exotic or mysterious. Chinatown is a place of gathering, having great food, shopping, and having fun. Chinatown in Vancouver used to be the place for everyone to go in the ‘50s. We’re trying to find ways to re-engage with people that way.
What do you want readers to get out of the publication?
Zhou — A sense of community love and realizing that we can carry the past and present into the future. There is still a possibility of transforming Chinatown into its once glory but with a modern twist. This magazine is intended to capture 100 years before and the present and envision 100 years into the future. It’s hopeful but also nostalgic.
Abbie — I want people to get the idea that Chinatown is a living, breathing cosmos of a current world where current people live.
Where can people buy 168 Magazine?
Zhou — Right now, we’re working on distribution. It’s being sold at the Chinatown Storytelling Centre and online in-person at a shop called Foo Hung Curios. We’re working on distributing to New York, Los Angeles, and Toronto.
What kind of stories can readers expect?
Zhou — Everything from shops to CEOs. We featured the CEO of the Chinese Canadian Museum, Dr. Melissa Karmen Lee. We also took strolls down the streets and started asking people if they wanted to be featured in the magazine. I thought that was a really cool feature: listening to the perspectives of different people of different ages. Not all of them were from Vancouver.
Abbie — What does it mean to be the heir of this dim sum company? We’re asking all these people to look at the future and write a letter to future Chinatown and their hopes and dreams for the future of the community. That was the central pillar of everything…
What do you want for the magazine in the coming years?
Abbie — We want to be able to do more, have an impact, and engage the community to grow. We want to remind the mayor and the other people in Vancouver that Chinatown is a vital part of their community as well. Even if they are not connected to it as much as we are, they should be welcome, engage, and know it’s a vital part of the fabric of Vancouver.
