Location: Downtown Vancouver | Models: Emmie, Olena, Vera, Jenny, CC, Emmie, Xinru, Kateryna, Melinda
One question I hear surprisingly often is:
"Where can I find a cheongsam (qipao) in Vancouver?"
It always makes me smile, because that's exactly why I started Ping Ting, my Vancouver cheongsam and qipao rental and custom studio.
Instead of simply posting photos online, I thought it would be much more meaningful to bring people together and let them experience the beauty of the cheongsam in a relaxed, social setting. So I invited a group of wonderful models, booked a studio, set up a mahjong table, and spent an afternoon celebrating culture through photography, conversation, and plenty of laughter.
Photo by Victor Li
The best part? Our models all came from different backgrounds — Hong Kong, Malaysia, Canada, and Ukraine. Watching everyone enjoy the experience together reminded me that culture becomes most meaningful when it is shared.
To me, experiencing a culture isn't about standing back and observing. It's about participating.
It's sitting down at a mahjong table.
It's putting on a beautiful cheongsam.
It's laughing over unfamiliar traditions that quickly become familiar.
Those are the moments that make culture feel alive.
Portraits Beyond Fashion
As a portrait photographer, I naturally couldn't resist taking some editorial-style portraits throughout the afternoon.
Every person wore the cheongsam differently, and that's something I genuinely love about this garment. Although its history goes back many decades, it never feels like a costume to me. Instead, it quietly adapts to the personality of the person wearing it.
Some portraits felt elegant and timeless.
Others were playful.
Some carried a modern fashion feel.
Yet every one of them still felt unmistakably like a cheongsam.
That versatility is one of the reasons I continue to love photographing it.
From Mahjong to a Hong Kong Café
After the studio session, our little group wasn't quite ready to call it a day.
So we headed to one of Vancouver's Hong Kong-style cafés for snacks and, of course, Hong Kong milk tea.
The café turned out to be the perfect second location.
Its modern interior, mixed with subtle nostalgic touches, complemented the cheongsams beautifully. Between milk tea and casual conversations, we continued taking photos that felt far less like a planned photoshoot and more like friends hanging out.
Those often become my favourite photographs—the ones where people forget the camera is even there.
Looking Forward
This little gathering accomplished exactly what I had hoped.
It wasn't a fashion show.
It wasn't a formal cultural exhibition.
It was simply a group of people from different backgrounds sharing an afternoon together, wearing beautiful cheongsams, playing mahjong, drinking milk tea, and making new friends.
Sometimes that's the best way to celebrate culture—through genuine experiences rather than formal presentations.
I'd love to organize more events like this in the future.
If you have ideas for fun ways to celebrate cheongsam culture in Vancouver, I'd genuinely love to hear them.
And if you've been wondering where to find a cheongsam or qipao, whether you're looking for a cheongsam rental, a custom-made, or simply a unique portrait experience with a portrait photographer, I'd be happy to help.