During the 1990s, wealthy Chinese immigrants, primarily from Hong Kong, moved directly to suburban Richmond Hill, where they set up businesses and shops catering to that community.
Many shops and restaurants were established in suburban-style shopping malls and plazas (such as Times Square, Commerce Gate, and First Markham Place) along a stretch of Highway 7 between Bayview and Leslie Street. The most intense development is concentrated around the Commerce Valley Drive/Beaver Creek Road loop.
Similarly thriving Chinese plazas in Markham are also on Highway 7, just several kilometers east and many families often visit both communities on the same day.
A list of Chinese malls and plazas in the Richmond Hill area:
Times Square
Commerce Gate
Wycliffe Village
Shoppes of the Parkway
Ho-View Place
Lexus Bayview Square
Goldenview Centre
Jubilee Square
Richlane
Glen Cameron Place