Watching the Fireworks Explode over English Bay: Every August during the July/August Celebration of Light, three international fireworks companies compete by launching their best displays over English Bay. As many as 500,000 spectators cram the beaches around English Bay, while those with boats sail out to watch from the water.

Enjoying the F-F-F Festivals: The Folk, the Fringe, and the Film, to be precise. The Folkfest brings folk and world-beat musicians to a waterfront stage in Jericho Park. The setting's gorgeous, the music's great, and the crowd is something else. Far more urban is the Fringe, a festival of new and original plays that takes place on artsy Granville Island. The plays are wonderfully inventive. Better yet, they're short and cheap so you can see a lot of them. In late September, the films of the world come to Vancouver. Serious filmies buy a pass and see all 500 flicks (or as many as they can before their eyeballs fall out).

Exploring Chinatown: Fishmongers call out their wares before a shop filled with crabs, eels, geoducks, and bullfrogs, while farther down the street elderly Chinese women haggle over produce as their husbands hunt for deer antler or dried sea horse at a traditional Chinese apothecary. And when you're tired of looking and listening, head inside to any one of a dozen restaurants to sample succulent Cantonese cooking.

Strolling the Stanley Park Seawall: Or jogging, running, blading, biking, skating, riding -- whatever your favorite mode of transport is, use it, but by all means get out there.

Visiting the Vancouver Aquarium: It's a Jacques Cousteau special, live and right there in front of you. The Vancouver Aquarium does an extremely good job showing whole ecosystems. Fittingly enough, the aquarium has an excellent display on the Pacific Northwest, plus sea otters (cuter than they have any right to be), beluga whales, sea lions, and a Pacific white-sided dolphin.

Kayaking on Indian Arm: Vancouver is one of the few cities on the edge of a great wilderness, and one of the best ways to get there quickly is kayaking on the gorgeous Indian Arm. Rent a kayak or go with a company -- they may even serve you a gourmet meal of barbecued salmon.

Strolling the Beach: It doesn't matter which beach, there's one for every taste. Wreck Beach below UBC is for nudists, Spanish Banks is for dog walkers, Jericho Beach is for volleyballers, Kitsilano Beach is for serious suntanning, and English Bay Beach is for serious people-watching.

Picnicking at the Lighthouse: Everyone has their favorite picnic spot -- one of the beaches or up on the mountains. Ours is Lighthouse Park on the North Shore. Not only do you get to look back over at Vancouver, but also, the walk down to the rocky waterline runs through a pristine, old-growth rainforest.

Hiking the North Shore: The forests of the North Shore are at the edge of a great wilderness and only 20 minutes from the city. Step into a world of muted light and soaring cathedral-like spaces beneath the tree canopy. Great North Shore trails include the very busy Grouse Grind, Cypress Falls Park, and the hike from Grouse back to Goat Mountain. (Whatever you do, go prepared. People die on those trails every year, cold and lost. A good local guidebook can give you more details on trails and tell you what you need to bring.)

Exploring UBC's Museum of Anthropology: The building -- by native son Arthur Erickson -- would be worth a visit in itself, but this is also one of the best places in the world to see and learn about West Coast Native art and culture.

Visiting the Library: We're serious. Vancouver's new main library building isn't so much a book depository as an urban gathering place. Outside, you'll find a permanent crowd of folks hanging out, playing music, or distributing political pamphlets. Inside is a huge glass atrium with little patio tables and several coffee bars, where folks sit and chat for hours. Sometimes they even go and look at books.

Mountain Biking the Endowment Lands: One of the best places to give this sport a try is on the trails running through the forest by the University of British Columbia. (The area is officially called Pacific Spirit Park, but everyone calls it the Endowment Lands.) On the east side of town, the trails on Burnaby Mountain are equally good, though steep enough to qualify as intermediate terrain.

Having a Latte on Granville Island: Down on False Creek, this former industrial site was long ago converted into an indoor public market and home for artists and artisans. Grab a latte at the public market and sit outside by the wharf and people- or boat-watch.

Wandering the West End: Encompassing the über-shopping strip known as Robson Street, as well as cafe-lined Denman and a forest of high-rise apartments, the West End is the urban heart of Vancouver. Enjoy the lush street trees, the range of architecture, and the neat little surprises on every side street.

Watching the Sunset from a Waterside Patio: Why else live in a city with such stunning views? Most establishments on False Creek, English Bay, and Coal Harbour have good waterside patios. For something different, head to the North Shore, where you don't get to see mountains, but you get fabulous city views.