Vancouver, BC Traveller's Guide

Many people have asked me what to do in Vancouver since I go there a lot (we spend 6% of each year residing at a hotel in Vancouver over ~9 trips). Therefore, I decided to write a guide about it. I hope it helps.
This guide goes over:

Border Crossing
Declaring items when returning from Canada Proving that you're crossing legally is very easy! Simply figure out what you cannot bring (e.g. fruits) and don't bring those items.
When you arrive at the border, just be very honest. Declare all legal items you bring. This sounds extremely stupid but explaining clearly minimizes the chance of getting searched!
For example, we typically just declare "we're bringing back take-out and baked items" because that's exactly what we are bringing back. No problems has ever arose out of that.

To reach Vancouver from Seattle you need to cross an international border (if this sounds obvious to you this is meant for users around the world btw).
There are four options:

To get to the point, Truck Route is slow because all new crossers think that it's a shortcut and goes there (and also due to another reason I cannot share). Summas is literally an extra hour of driving so you only cross there if you're going to Banff (this is so far its not even on the map below).
Therefore, when going to/from Canada, the only crossings you use are Peace Arch or Lynden/Aldergrove. It is strongly recommended to heed this advice, but not imperative. There have been rare cases on the return trip from Canada when Truck Route has been the fastest option. Search "US to Canada Border Crossing time" or "Canada to US border crossing time" to get information on crossing waits.
Note that Lynden/Aldergrove (right on map) is an extra 20-30 minutes drive excluding border waits, so cross there if and only if the line is >30 minutes faster there.
If you do choose to use Lynden/Aldergrove crossing, I strongly recommend taking 0 Ave back to BC-99 as it is right on the border and very interesting!
If you do not trust the time provided for Peace Arch (it can be wrong by up to 30 minutes), you can do your own measurement! Simply go on Google Maps, and see where the red "traffic jam" starts. The line moves faster when crossing back from Canada as U.S. (see note below).
Crossing time clarification The speed at which the line moves varies based off of the amount of booths active and the time of crossing.
When crossing in either direction before 12 PM, most other vehicles will be crossing to leave their country of residence. The opposite happens past 6 PM.
The map above, and all the advice is provided under the assumption of crossing at typical times (crossing Northbound before 12PM, crossing southbound after 6 PM) and in typical conditions (6 lanes open at Peace arch and 2 at Lynden).

Food in Vancouver

The Chinese cuisine in Vancouver is superior to that of nearly all major cities outside of China. Food is the only reason we go to Vancouver 9 times a year.
If you are also travelling to Vancouver for the Chinese food, here's my advice.

In terms of restaurants recommendations, use my guide from Starlight notebook (this is a screenshot from June). A detailed elaboration will follow. I will go more into detail here:

Breakfast Options Lunch Options Dinner Options Late-night Options If you still have room past 11 PM, here are some options: Note that Richmond, BC and Burnaby, BC are safe at night, and Vancouver downtown (west of Gastown) is generally safe.
Also note that most of these stores above are at Richmond, so consider getting a hotel from there!

Activities in Vancouver

Non-Shopping In Richmond, we have the Richmond Entertainment Plaza! Extreme Air Park is a trampoline park (best for 3 people or more).
Richmond Ice Center has a skating rink.
Watermania is an indoor waterpark.
SilverCity Riverport Cinemas is obviously a movie theatre.
Other options include,



Shopping Here are some options for shopping malls in Richmond from North to South: Options outside of Richmond: